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Leading up to the April 28 election, the federal leaders of聽four of the country’s major political parties competed in a French debate on Wednesday night, and will face off again in an English debate on Thursday.聽

The Star’s polling suggests the Liberals are maintaining a lead over the Conservatives聽as parties get ready for the home stretch.聽

Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming discussions.

When and where are the debates?

The French language debate was on April 16 at 6 p.m. ET after it was previously scheduled for 8 p.m. but was changed after聽NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and聽Bloc Qu茅b茅cois leader Yves-Fran莽ois Blanchet asked that the debate not聽clash with a Montreal Canadiens playoff clinching game set for 7 p.m.

The English language debate will be held on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.

The location for both debates is the Maison de Radio-Canada in Montreal.

Who is participating?

The Leaders Debate Commission, the independent public body hosting, invited the leaders of four聽parties, Bloc Qu茅b茅cois, Conservative Party of Canada, Liberal Party of Canada and New Democratic Party.聽

The Green Party of Canada was initially invited to participate but the debate commission made a last-minute decision to disinvite them from both debates on Wednesday morning.聽Co-leader Jonathan Pedneault called the decision 鈥渦njust,鈥� 鈥渂aseless,鈥� and 鈥渦ndemocratic,鈥� adding that he expected it to be reversed.

To be invited, a registered political party has to meet two of the commission’s three criteria that includes the party being represented in the House of Commons by an MP, the party having at least 4 per cent national support in the polls 28 days before the election or the party having endorsed candidates in at least 90 per cent of the ridings.聽

The Green Party pledged they would have candidates in every riding across Canada, but only ran candidates in 68 per cent of ridings by the Elections Canada nomination deadline.

The People’s Party of Canada was also not invited despite having endorsed candidates in 99 per cent of the ridings. The commission says they did not meet either of the other two criteria.

The French language debate was moderated by Radio-Canada鈥檚 Patrice Roy, and TVO鈥檚 Steve Paikin will host the English debate.

Where can you watch?

The Star is carrying both debates live on and the Star’s app. The live stream will be accompanied by real-time analysis from Star reporters and columnists.

The debates will also be going out live on most major Canadian television networks.

What is the format?

The commission says they are following a “simple and flexible” format to stir up聽“meaningful exchanges between the leaders.”

The group says they’ve spoken with more than 50 past and present debate organizers both in Canada and from around the world since the last federal election in 2021 to find the best strategies.聽

The moderator has to be an experienced journalist who asks questions in a neutral way and can refrain from expressing their opinions, the guidelines say. The moderator should be a facilitator and leave rebuttals up to the leaders themselves.聽

The debates have up to four themes with “flexible timing,” according to the commission.

The set is described as “simple and intimate” to not distract the viewer and to encourage discussion between the leaders.

With files from Ryan Tumilty