3 byelections test Carney government's popularity as U.S. trade war heats up

Can Carney keep his majority as byelections and U.S. trade threats loom?

Hi folks, I'm a senior writer with the parliamentary bureau in Ottawa.

Add "byelections" to the list of things that come in threes, because this is the second time in 2026 that we have a trio of seats up for grabs on the same night.

The B.C. riding of North Vancouver-Capilano is open after former Liberal cabinet minister Jonathan Wilkinson shipped out to Brussels to take up a new job as Canada's ambassador to the European Union earlier this summer.

Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, another former cabinet minister, also resigned his Toronto seat in Beaches-East York.

And the Quebec seat of Chicoutimi-Le Fjord became vacant after Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed now-former Conservative MP Richard Martel to the Senate.

There are a few other vacant seats in the House of Commons at the moment, but only voters in these three ridings are casting ballots today.