(Update) Canadians give Liberals 4th mandate; Carney wins Ottawa riding

Canadians handed the Liberals a fourth mandate on Monday, with Prime Minister Mark Carney set to lead Canada through an economic crisis triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Carney will also take a seat in the House of Commons for the first time, having won the Ottawa riding of Nepean.

Tight Race: Majority Still Uncertain

At midnight EDT ballots were still being counted and dozens of seats were too close to call. It's not yet known whether the Liberals will lead a majority or minority government.

Election Night Emotions Run High

Cheers erupted at the Ottawa hockey arena where Liberal supporters gathered to watch the results after media outlets declared the party would form government.

At that same moment, cheers of hope turned to silence and a man wearing a "Pierre Poilievre for prime minister" T-shirt held his head in his hands as the news broke at the downtown Ottawa convention centre where Conservative supporters were gathered.

Some expressed frustration and disbelief after hearing the news that Carney will still be prime minister.

"I truly do not understand," said Joanne Gurman.

Within minutes, Conservative supporters were cheering again as the results appeared to tighten, with many chanting "Bring it home" — one of Poilievre's most prominent campaign slogans.

Party-by-Party Highlights

At the NDP venue in a suburb of Vancouver, the mood was tense as a few dozen supporters trickled in from polling offices. Some NDP supporters said they were taking solace in the fact that Poilievre would not form government. It was not yet clear whether NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh would be able to hold his riding.

The Liberals have seen a massive rebound since the start of the year, after more than a year of the Conservatives being favoured to win a majority government while Justin Trudeau was in power.

Early results suggest the NDP could lose many of its seats as some left-centre voters turned to the Liberals as an alternative to Poilievre's Conservatives.

Riding Highlights and Upsets

In the Ontario riding of Peterborough, outspoken Conservative incumbent Michelle Ferreri has been defeated by Liberal candidate Emma Harrison.

Liberals have flipped Toronto—St. Paul's, with Leslie Church defeating Conservative Don Stewart less than a year after she lost to him in a byelection.

That loss, in what is typically considered a safe seat for the Liberals, sent shock waves through the party and pressure immediately began to mount on Trudeau to resign.

The Newfoundland riding that had been held for a decade by Gudie Hutchings, a Liberal cabinet minister, has flipped to the Conservatives. Hutchings had opted not to seek another mandate in this election.

The Tories have lost the South Shore—St. Margarets riding in Nova Scotia, which had been held by Rick Perkins since 2021. Liberal candidate Jessica Fancy-Landry has taken the riding.

Campaign Reflections and Key Issues

Carney, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh spent five weeks pitching their cases to voters.

Each of the main party leaders settled into their home ridings Monday after an eventful but compressed election period that lasted the minimum 37 days.

Carney, a former central banker and a political neophyte, presented himself during the campaign as a safe pair of hands for a country facing Trump's economic threats, while Poilievre focused on addressing crime and the high cost of living.

While Singh started the campaign saying he was running for prime minister, he changed his message after two weeks and started calling on Canadians to elect New Democrats to protect social programs.

Trump’s Influence on the Canadian Election

Trump loomed large over the campaign with his tariff threats and calls for Canada to become a U.S. state, causing Carney to leave the campaign trail at various times to hold meetings in his capacity as prime minister.

The American president even weighed in early on election day with a post on his Truth Social platform, where he repeated calls for Canada to join the U.S. and wished "good luck to the Great people of Canada."

"Elect the man who has the strength and wisdom to cut your taxes in half, increase your military power, for free, to the highest level in the World, have your Car, Steel, Aluminum, Lumber, Energy, and all other businesses, QUADRUPLE in size, WITH ZERO TARIFFS OR TAXES, if Canada becomes the cherished 51st. State of the United States of America," he wrote.

Election Overshadowed by Tragedy

On the final full day of the campaign, all major party leaders paused to address a deadly vehicle attack at a Filipino community event in Vancouver that took the lives of at least 11 attendees, leaving more injured in hospital.

The Final Numbers

When Parliament was dissolved, the Liberals held 153 seats in a minority government and the Conservatives formed the official Opposition with 120 seats. The Bloc Québécois held 33 seats, the NDP 24 and the Greens two. There were three independent MPs.

Because of changes to riding boundaries, the 2025 general election had 343 seats contested, up from 338. Majority government status requires a minimum of 172 seats.

— With files from Kyle Duggan, Sarah Ritchie, and Craig Lord in Ottawa, Rianna Lim in Toronto and David Baxter in Burnaby, B.C.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2025.