Toronto–St. Paul’s federal byelection: When, where and how to vote

After weeks of attention and the potential federal implications of the results, eligible residents in the riding of Toronto–St. Paul’s will have a chance to cast a ballot for their next M.P.

Monday’s byelection was triggered by the resignation of former cabinet minister and long-time Liberal Party of Canada representative Carolyn Bennett back in January.

This race has been viewed by many as the latest test of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s leadership, raising additional questions about his future should the Liberals lose what has been a stronghold for the party.

There are seven dozen people on the ballot, which is almost a metre long. A protest group calling itself the Longest Ballot Committee stacked it with names to make a point about the first-past-the-post system being unfair. They did similar protests in byelections in Winnipeg a year ago and Mississauga in 2022.

Leslie Church, who served as chief of staff to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, is running for the Liberals. Don Stewart, a financial and marketing specialist, is running for the Conservative Party of Canada. Amrit Parhar, a director with a non-profit, is running for the NDP.

Christian Cullis, a constituency and communications assistant for Ward 11 University–Rosedale Coun. Dianne Saxe is running for the Green Party of Canada.

Click here to view a full list of candidates on the ballot.

When can Toronto–St. Paul’s residents vote?

Polling stations will be open on Monday between 8:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m.

Where to vote

Click here to access Elections Canada’s voter information service. To find your location in Toronto–St. Paul’s, enter your home postal code on the website.

How to cast a ballot

In order to vote in the byelection, residents must have lived in Toronto–St. Paul’s since May 20, be at least 18 years old on election day, be a Canadian citizen, and must able to prove identity and address.

Residents will need to bring identification in order to cast a ballot. Also, if a resident isn’t on the list of registered voters, they will have to register. According to Elections Canada, there are three options:

• An Ontario driver’s licence or any other government-issued card with a name, photo and current address
• Two pieces of identification with the resident’s name and one of the two pieces must have a current address (e.g. a voter information card and a bank statement, a student ID card and a utility bill etc.)
• If someone doesn’t have any identification, a resident can fill out a written declaration and another resident who lives in the same riding and is known to the applicant will have to attest they know the resident and provide their own identification

Click here for a full list of accepted identification.

For any other questions on how to cast a ballot, click here to visit the Elections Canada Toronto–St. Paul’s byelection website.

With files from The Canadian Press