Carney Calls Six Federal Byelections for December 7 in Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan

Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Photo: Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Six seats, three provinces, and one cold Monday in December. That is what Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Sunday, November 1, calling federal byelections for December 7 from Brantford to Yorkton. If you live in one of those six places, you will pick a new member of Parliament before Christmas. If you do not, the results will still matter: they test whether Carney's Liberals can stretch their grip on the Commons, and whether Poilievre's Conservatives are gaining ground or just making noise.

The six ridings on the ballot for December 7

According to the Prime Minister's Office, voting day is Monday, December 7, in Brantford—Brant South and Scarborough North in Ontario; Laurier—Sainte-Marie, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie and Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton in Quebec; and Yorkton—Melville in Saskatchewan. The Canadian Press reports the Quebec seats were previously held by the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc Québécois, while the Conservatives held the Yorkton and Brantford seats and the Liberals held Scarborough North.

These are not seats that fell vacant yesterday. According to The Canadian Press, 13 of the 343 members elected in 2025 have now stepped down, leaving for diplomatic posts, provincial politics or retirement. The prime minister must call a byelection between 11 and 180 days after a resignation, which is why autumn vacancies across three provinces all landed on one December date.

Brantford is the byelection fight to watch

Start in Brantford: that race already has a cast, a grudge and a deadline. Former Conservative MP Larry Brock resigned on September 18, 2026, to return as a Crown attorney, according to the Brantford Expositor. Two days later, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre skipped an open nomination race and appointed Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis as the party's candidate — a move that stunned local Conservatives who had expected a contest.

The Liberals answered on October 31, naming Joy O'Donnell, a certified financial planner who finished second to Brock in April 2025, according to the Expositor. Then came the twist: Dave Carroll, a long-time local Conservative who had sought the nomination, announced on October 28 that he would run as an independent. The NDP has yet to pick its candidate, though Brad Ward told the Expositor he expects nomination at a November 7 meeting following a visit by NDP Leader Avi Lewis.

That is a mayor, a rematch candidate and a spurned insider on one ballot. Brantford will not be quiet.

What Carney is really testing with six byelections

Zoom out and the stakes get bigger than any one riding. The Globe and Mail reported on October 31 that the Liberals hold 173 seats with six vacancies, and that Carney hopes to bolster his majority. The Canadian Press notes the Liberals won three byelections earlier this year. Six more wins would not change the government, but six losses would change the conversation in Ottawa overnight.

Money is one reason Carney's team sounds confident. According to Elections Canada records reported by The Globe and Mail, the Liberals raised $4.9 million in the third quarter of 2026 against $3.9 million for the Conservatives, a reversal of the usual fundraising order. The Globe also reported Liberal organizers calling field staff and asking MPs to book door-knocking shifts during the Commons break week — not the behaviour of a party expecting a sleepy December vote.

Poilievre, for his part, used announcement day to make his pitch directly. In a post on Sunday, according to The Canadian Press, he asked Canadians to choose a different path, saying his plan would save money, protect jobs and reform immigration. Expect to hear that pitch in every one of these ridings for the next five weeks.

How to vote in the December 7 byelections

The practical details, from Elections Canada, are worth pinning to the fridge. You must be a Canadian citizen, at least 18 on election day, and living in one of the six ridings from November 1 through December 7. Vote on election day at your assigned polling station, or at advance polls on November 27, 28, 29 and 30. You can also vote early at your local Elections Canada office, or by mail, if you apply by 6 p.m. on December 1.

Bring proof of identity and address. Elections Canada says you can register at your polling place, and check elections.ca with your postal code if unsure where to vote. The agency is also hiring paid election workers for December 7.

December byelections are easy to ignore: short days, unkind weather, rarely record turnout. But Ottawa will read these six races as a verdict on a government not yet two years old and an opposition still arguing it deserves another look. The writs are dropped; the next five weeks belong to the door-knockers.

Sources

• Prime Minister of Canada, "Prime Minister Carney announces by-elections", November 1, 2026 — https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2026/11/01/prime-minister-carney-announces-elections
• The Canadian Press, "Prime Minister Mark Carney calls six federal byelections for December", November 1, 2026 — https://www.europesays.com/canada/273939/
• The Globe and Mail, "Liberals jump ahead of Tories in fundraising as by-election calls loom", October 31, 2026 — https://www.europesays.com/canada/272089/
• Brantford Expositor, "Carney calls byelection for December 7", November 1, 2026 — https://www.europesays.com/canada/274025/
• Elections Canada, "Federal by-elections now under way in Brantford-Brant South, Laurier-Sainte-Marie, Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot-Acton, Scarborough North and Yorkton-Melville", November 1, 2026 — https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/federal-by-elections-now-under-way-in-brantford-brant-south-laurier-sainte-marie-rosemont-la-petite-patrie-saint-hyacinthe-bagot-acton-scarborough-north-and-yorkton-melville-898481189.html

Video note: no video from a reputable outlet (CBC, CTV, Global News or Canadian Press) covering this November 1 announcement was verifiable via YouTube oEmbed at the time of writing, so no video has been embedded rather than risk an unverified clip.