2026 Terrebonne federal by-election
April 13, 2026
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Riding of Terrebonne | |||||||||||||||||
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A by-election will be held on April 13, 2026, to elect a member of Parliament (MP) to represent Terrebonne, Quebec, in the House of Commons for the remainder of the 45th Parliament after the riding's result in the 2025 general election was annulled by the Supreme Court of Canada on February 13, 2026, vacating the seat held by the then-Liberal Party MP Tatiana Auguste.[1]
Background
The 2025 federal election result in Terrebonne was contested by the Bloc Québécois candidate, defeated MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, after a judicial recount awarded the seat to Liberal candidate Tatiana Auguste by one vote. The result was challenged due to a printing error by Elections Canada on a return envelope for mail-in ballots which resulted in an envelope containing a vote for the Bloc Québécois candidate being returned to sender. The Supreme Court of Canada overturned a lower court decision and annulled the result, vacating the seat and requiring a by-election.[1]
Timing
A writ for the by-election could be issued no sooner than February 27 and no later than August 1, 2026.[2] Under the Canada Elections Act, the minimum length of a campaign is 36 days between dropping the writ and election day, but must not exceed 50 days. The by-election must also be held on a Monday within that time frame.[3] Accordingly, the earliest possible date for the by-election was April 6 and the latest was September 28.[2]
On March 8, the writ was issued for a by-election to be held on April 13.[4][5][6] Nominations close on March 23, at 2 pm local time.[7]
Preparation
After reviewing its internal procedures, Elections Canada announced that, to avert the possibility of misdirected ballots in future, special ballots will no longer be manually prepared by a riding office, but will be centrally and automatically prepared at its Ottawa office. However, the change was not expected to be fully implemented until the fall.[8]
Candidates
The candidates in 2025 have reappeared for the by-election:
Auguste and Sinclair-Desgagné had already been confirmed as candidates before the by-election was called.[9]
Conservative Adrienne Charles's candidacy was announced on March 11.[10] The Greens are fielding Benjamin Rankin again,[11] as are the NDP with Maxime Beaudoin.[12] Maria Cantore is also returning for the PPC.[13]
The Longest Ballot Committee is making efforts to gather signatures to flood the ballot with multiple candidates.[14]
Campaign
Sinclair-Desgagné used the slogan Une voix qui compte! ("A voice/vote that counts!"). She promoted the Bloc platform for supporting seniors and first-time home buyers, and voiced concerns over the proposed routing of the Alto high-speed rail line and potential expropriations for it in the riding.[15] Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet laughed off suggestions that "fake candidates" could be nominated in the concurrent by-elections being held in Scarborough Southwest and University—Rosedale, in order to create extra campaign financing room in the Terrebonne contest.[16]
Many Liberals are coming up from Montreal to support the Auguste campaign, while the bloquistes are firmly behind Sinclair-Desgagné.[17]
Result
| Canadian federal by-election, April 13, 2026: Terrebonne 2025 result annulled by Supreme Court | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Tatiana Auguste | |||||||
| Bloc Québécois | Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné | |||||||
| Conservative | Adrienne Charles | |||||||
| New Democratic | Maxime Beaudoin | |||||||
| Green | Benjamin Rankin | |||||||
| People's | Maria Cantore | |||||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | ||||||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||||
| Turnout | ||||||||
| Eligible voters | ||||||||
| Source: | ||||||||
Previous results
- 2025 nullified result
| 2025 Canadian federal election: Terrebonne | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Tatiana Auguste | 23,352 | 38.741 | +9.37 | ||||
| Bloc Québécois | Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné | 23,351 | 38.739 | −2.66 | ||||
| Conservative | Adrienne Charles | 10,961 | 18.18 | +7.73 | ||||
| New Democratic | Maxime Beaudoin | 1,556 | 2.58 | −4.07 | ||||
| Green | Benjamin Rankin | 630 | 1.05 | −0.38 | ||||
| People's | Maria Cantore | 428 | 0.71 | −1.97 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 60,278 | 98.63 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 840 | 1.37 | -0.88 | |||||
| Turnout | 61,118 | 67.93 | +1.74 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 89,966 | |||||||
| Liberal notional gain from Bloc Québécois | Swing | +6.02 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[18][19] | ||||||||
| Notes: Results were annulled by the Supreme Court of Canada on February 13, 2026.[20] The results were also subject to an automatic judicial recount on May 7, 2025.[21] The number of eligible voters does not include election day registrations. | ||||||||
- 2021 valid result (redistributed)
| 2021 federal election redistributed results[22] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Vote | % | |
| Bloc Québécois | 23,298 | 41.40 | |
| Liberal | 16,528 | 29.37 | |
| Conservative | 5,886 | 10.46 | |
| New Democratic | 3,742 | 6.65 | |
| People's | 1,506 | 2.68 | |
| Green | 802 | 1.43 | |
| Others | 4,518 | 8.03 | |
- 2021 valid result (actual)
| 2021 Canadian federal election: Terrebonne | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Bloc Québécois | Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné | 24,270 | 41.2 | -9.4 | $28,625.35 | |||
| Liberal | Eric Forget | 17,475 | 29.6 | +0.3 | $6,336.80 | |||
| Conservative | Frédérick Desjardins | 6,183 | 10.5 | +2.9 | $8,029.08 | |||
| New Democratic | Luke Mayba | 3,913 | 6.6 | -0.9 | $7,745.37 | |||
| Independent | Michel Boudrias | 3,864 | 6.6 | N/A | $16,574.97 | |||
| People's | Louis Stinziani | 1,594 | 2.7 | +2.0 | $0.00 | |||
| Green | Dave Hamelin-Schuilenburg | 847 | 2.4 | -2.3 | $103.94 | |||
| Free | Nathan Fortin-Dubé | 803 | 1.4 | N/A | $25.71 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 58,949 | 97.8 | – | $119,339.41 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 1,355 | 2.2 | ||||||
| Turnout | 60,304 | 66.4 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 90,835 | |||||||
| Bloc Québécois hold | Swing | -4.9 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[23] | ||||||||
| Notes: The incumbent MP, Michel Boudrias, was not renominated as the candidate for the Bloc Quebecois, and subsequently ran as an Independent[24] | ||||||||
References
- ^ a b "Supreme Court of Canada annuls single-vote win in Terrebonne riding, vacating seat". Montreal Gazette. 2026-02-13. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
- ^ a b "A Federal Seat Is Vacant in Terrebonne". Elections Canada. February 16, 2026. Retrieved February 16, 2026.
- ^ "Result of the 45th General Election in Terrebonne Annulled". Elections Canada. February 13, 2026. Retrieved February 13, 2026.
- ^ Tumilty, Ryan (March 8, 2026). "Mark Carney calls three byelections for April that could lead to Liberal majority". Toronto Star.
- ^ Beaulieu-Lépine, Mathilde (March 8, 2026). "Les trois élections partielles fédérales se tiendront le 13 avril" [Three byelections will be held on April 13]. Le Devoir (in French).
- ^ Bourquin, Chloé (March 8, 2026). "Trois élections partielles fédérales se dérouleront le 13 avril" [Three byelections will roll out on April 13]. La Presse (in French).
- ^ Stephens, Matthew (March 9, 2025). "Federal byelection in Scarborough Southwest to take place on April 13". Beach Metro Community News. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
- ^ Proulx, Boris (March 2, 2026). "L'erreur de code postal ne sera plus possible lors du nouveau scrutin dans Terrebonne" [The postal code error will no longer be possible in the new vote in Terrebonne]. Le Devoir (in French).
- ^ Blais, Stéphane (February 26, 2026). "Liberal, Bloc Québécois candidates set for Terrebonne rematch after court ruling". CBC News.
- ^ "Conservatives nominate candidates for two coming byelections". The Canadian Press. 11 March 2026. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
- ^ "Terrebonne byelection to be held April 13, featuring rematch between Liberal and Bloc candidates". Montreal Gazette. March 8, 2026.
- ^ Maxime Beaudoin's NDP site
- ^ Maria Cantore's PPC site
- ^ Haws, Emily (March 16, 2026). "Longest Ballot Committee collecting signatures for potential candidates in Terrebonne by-election". The Globe and Mail.
- ^ "Terrebonne byelection: Bloc Québécois candidate who lost now-nullified election by single vote unveils platform". CityNews. Montreal. March 12, 2026.
- ^ Major, Darren (March 9, 2026). "Bloc leader laughs off running 'fake' byelection candidates outside of Quebec". CBC News.
- ^ Lévesque, Catherine (March 17, 2026). "Liberals are almost guaranteed a majority — but 172 seats would be a 'poison pill'". National Post.
- ^ "Voter information service". Elections Canada. Retrieved May 11, 2025.
- ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved March 18, 2026.
- ^ Major, Darren (February 13, 2026). "Supreme Court nullifies Liberal single-vote election win in Montreal-area riding". CBC News.
- ^ Lopez Stephen, Benjamin (May 10, 2025). "Quebec riding of Terrebonne flips to Liberals after recount shows candidate won by single vote". CBC News. Retrieved May 11, 2025.
- ^ "Transposition of Votes from the 44th General Election to the 2023 Representation Orders". Elections Canada. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
- ^ "List of confirmed candidates – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/as-bloc-prepares-for-federal-election-infighting-grows-over-candidate-selection-process/
Notes
- ^ In 2021, the Conservatives received 10.46% of the vote.
- ^ In 2021, the Liberals received 29.37% of the vote.
- ^ In 2021, the BQ received 41.40% of the vote.
- ^ Tatiana Auguste (Liberal) lost her seat in the House of Commons on February 13, 2026, following the Supreme Court's annulment of the 2025 federal election in Terrebonne.