It’s election day听in Canada. Canadians will decide who will lead the country through turbulent times marked by the rising cost of living, an overburdened healthcare system and the economic and political threats posed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
As people head to the polls Monday,听Star journalists and columnists are reporting from across the country. Follow our live coverage all day.听
Vancouver street festival tragedy casts shadow over last day of federal election campaign

A couple hugs near the scene the day after a driver killed multiple people during a Filipino community festival Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Vancouver, British Columbia.听
Lindsey Wasson/APEDMONTON鈥擟arnage at a Filipino street festival in Vancouver cast a pall over the final day of the federal election campaign, as party leaders expressed shock and sadness for those killed when a man drove a vehicle into a crowd on Saturday night.
Suddenly reeling, campaign organizers scrambled Sunday to rearrange schedules and offer condolences amidst national grieving. Some parties cancelled and delayed events, and tried to strike the right balance between showing sympathy and continuing the campaign, with leaders racing around the country to cover ground and rally support in the last hours before the last votes are cast Monday.
Vancouver police have reported that 11 people were killed 鈥 their ages ranging from five to 65 years old 鈥 and dozens more injured after a man drove into the crowd at the Lapu Lapu Day festival on Saturday night, in what interim police chief Steve Rai called 鈥渢he darkest day in Vancouver鈥檚 history.鈥
From Trump to taxes, here鈥檚 how Carney, Poilievre and Singh courted Canadians in a strange campaign

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, left to right, Liberal Leader Mark Carney and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh participate in the English-language federal leaders’ debate in Montreal on April 17, 2025.
Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian PressOTTAWA鈥擡lection 2025 is the campaign that fun forgot. Where the winner might just be the most boring. Where the music has been forgettable. Where no snappy leaders鈥 debate exchange and no political ad truly captured the zeitgeist.
It鈥檚 a campaign that saw Liberals and Conservatives flip their hope and fear scripts, that ends with New Democrats and the separatist Bloc Qu茅b茅cois fighting for relevance, and reveals a Canadian electorate sharply divided, but seemingly less polarized than during the 2021 pandemic campaign. That vote saw rock-throwing and visceral anti-establishment eruptions against candidates.
In this campaign, there is unity of purpose vis-脿-vis the threat of U.S. President Donald Trump. The collective goal is to survive the next four years.
Where Canadians sharply differ is on exactly how to become a stronger, and more independent country, and who has the best strategy to ensure that.
Here鈥檚 what I learned fact checking party leaders for 21 days
Well, that was illuminating.
I spent three weeks following (in the virtual sense) the campaign speeches of Canada鈥檚 national political leaders.
For the uninitiated, those leaders are the Liberal鈥檚 Mark Carney, the Conservative鈥檚 Pierre Poilievre and the NDP鈥檚 Jagmeet Singh. As we said at the outset, which seems so long ago, 鈥淛ust the facts, men.鈥 And yet in rallies and responses to questions from journalists, some gave a whole lot more.
So did the campaign workers tasked with responding to the Star鈥檚 emails when their leaders strayed beyond the confines of factuality or purposely engaged in verbal theatrics.
Opinion: To survive Trump and the threat of separation, the next PM must unite Canadians
Whoever wins the federal election on Monday, their task 鈥 beyond resetting the relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, navigating Canada out of an impending economic crisis, addressing affordability and safety concerns 鈥 must be to reach out to those Canadians who did not vote for them.
Although the main party leaders portray themselves as figures who can heal a divided nation, they spent the campaign鈥檚 last few days striking a decidedly more partisan tone.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney described Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in his stump speech as someone not typically onside with the other leaders. He said Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was someone who 鈥渄raws his inspiration from Donald Trump鈥 and 鈥渨hose first instinct when our nation was attacked was to call Canada stupid.鈥 Poilievre did call Canadians 鈥渟tupid,鈥 but it was in early January well before Trump鈥檚 threats.
While Carney鈥檚 attacks against Poilievre are personal: 鈥淗e has a reflex to cut, destroy, and divide.鈥 Poilievre attacks the wider group. 鈥淎 Liberal is a Liberal is a Liberal,鈥 he often repeats.
Here's how to cast your ballot
Canadians are hitting the polls on April 28 to determine who will become the next prime minister of the country.
From voting early to knowing what to take with you on election day, here鈥檚 everything you need to know about casting your ballot in the federal election.
On election day, polls will be open for 12 hours, with voting hours staggered so that the results come in at around the same time across the country, according to Elections Canada.
Polls open at 9:30 a.m. and close at 9:30 p.m. for the GTA and much of Ontario in the Eastern Time zone.
Read the full story from the Star’s Vanessa Tiberio and Elissa Mendes
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