Close calls: These are the 9 tightest races of the Canada election

Will they, or won’t they? A day after the election, the country was holding its breath to see if the Liberals would cross the magic number of 172 and win an outright majority.

And by the end of Tuesday, the Liberals were projected to form a minority government with 169 seats – just shy of majority.

Elections Canada attributed the long wait to a high voter turnout.

“Due to the high turnout in this election, particularly by those voting by special ballot and at advance polls, more time is needed to count the ballots while ensuring our integrity checks are done,” said the elections agency on X.

Overall, 68.7 per cent of the eligible voters cast their vote, with a record 7.3 million ballots cast during advance polls.

A high degree of voter enthusiasm for the two biggest parties also meant close races across the country. Nine races ended with a margin of fewer than 500 votes separating the leading candidates from the second-place finisher.

As of Thursday morning, no judicial recount – automatic or at the request of an elector – is underway.

An automatic recount is possible only when the voter margin is less than one-thousandth of the total valid votes cast in the polls in the riding. However, the returning officer has to file an application within four days of the results to trigger the judicial recount.

Here are the tightest battles in what has been a close election:

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Terra Nova–The Peninsulas, Newfoundland and Labrador
Lead margin: 12 votes

Atlantic Canada might be where the polls close first in the country, but this Newfoundland riding kept its card to its chest until Tuesday afternoon when the media called it for Liberal candidate Anthony Germain.

With just a dozen vote lead, this is the closest race in the country this cycle.

Based on total valid votes of 41,073 and the margin, this riding is eligible for an automatic judicial recount.

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Terrebonne, Quebec
Lead margin: 44 votes

This Montreal-area riding swung back and forth between the incumbent Nathalie Sinclair-Desjardins of the Bloc Québécois and the Liberal candidate Tatiana Auguste.

Sinclair-Desjardins had a 28-vote lead until Tuesday after but when votes from the last polls were reported on Tuesday afternoon, that narrow lead of 35 votes went to Auguste.

But on Thursday, Elections Canada conducted a vote validation after the Bloc Québécois complained about errors during the vote count and Sinclair-Desjardins came back on top by 44 votes.

However, this is not a judicial recount. The total valid votes were 60,130, and with a vote difference between the top two candidates still below the 60-vote threshold an automatic judicial recount, Terrebonne remained eligible for one. In fact, Sinclair-Desjardins announced on a Facebook post that she was seeking a judicial recount.

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Nunavut
Lead Margin: 77 votes

The relationship challenges with the U.S. have put the arctic on the spotlight, and this territory received high-profile visitors like the Liberal Leader Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in recent months.

While the Liberal and the Conservative candidates performed well, the New Democrat incumbent Lori Idlout seemed to be holding on to her seat. She will be one of 12 Indigenous members in the next parliament as reported by CBC.

Nunavut isn’t eligible for an automatic judicial recount since the total eligible votes were 7,868.

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Windsor–Tecumseh—Lakeshore, Ontario
Lead Margin: 233 votes

Conservative Kathy Borrelli beat out Liberal incumbent Irek Kusmierczyk in one of the many pick-ups for the Conservatives in the battleground southwestern Ontario.

The riding isn’t eligible for an automatic judicial recount.

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Milton East–Halton Hills South, Ontario
Lead Margin: 29 votes

This newly minted riding saw a close contest with Liberal candidate Kristina Tesser Derksen winning by 29 votes days after the election. Conservative Parm Gill had been in the lead with almost 300 votes until a vote validation process put Derksen on top.

The validation process indicated that there were 412 rejected ballots. With the margin shrinking after the validation process, the riding is now eligible for an automatic judicial recount.

Local media reported during the last week of the campaign that Derksen filed police complaints for vandalism and stolen signs.

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Vancouver Kingsway, British Columbia
Lead Margin: 310 votes

Longtime New Democrat MP Don Davies was re-elected for the sixth time, beating out Liberal candidate Amy Gill. Davies has held the riding since 2008, and this was his closest race since the first time when he was elected.

The riding isn’t eligible for an automatic judicial recount.

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Brampton Centre, Ontario
Lead Margin: 340 votes

Liberal candidate Amandeep Sodhi, 23, came out ahead of Conservative Taran Chahal. She is poised to be one of the youngest MPs in the next parliament.

The redrawn riding was vacant after Liberal incumbent Shafqat Ali chose to run in a nearby riding.

The riding isn’t eligible for an automatic judicial recount.

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Kitchener Centre, Ontario
Lead Margin: 358 votes

The riding was the only other riding outside British Columbia to elect a Green Party candidate when incumbent Mike Morrice was elected in 2021.

But Conservative Kelly DeRidder defeated Morrice, narrowly winning 34.2 per cent of the votes.

The vote split between left-leaning parties – the Greens won 33.6 per cent vs. the Liberals who got 29.3 per cent – could have led to the Conservative victory.

The riding isn’t eligible for an automatic judicial recount.

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Miramichi–Grand Lake, New Brunswick
Lead Margin: 394 votes

Mike Dawson kept the riding in the Conservative tally after he beat former provincial minister and Liberal candidate Lisa Harris.

The riding isn’t eligible for an automatic judicial recount.

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Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Nunavik is part of Nunavut. It’s in fact located in northern Quebec.