With just a few days left in the 2025 federal election campaign, the party leaders are spreading across the country to make their final pitch to voters.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre spoke in the Stoney Creek area of Hamilton, Ont. Wednesday morning and vowed to toughen laws around encampments.
Mark Carney brought the Liberal campaign back to B.C., where he is working to woo voters in some NDP strongholds on Vancouver Island.
Meanwhile, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh spoke in Edmonton, Alta., emphasizing his plan to protect renters. He also brushed off questions about whether he might step aside after the election.
U.S. President Donald Trump also made headlines suggesting Canada would “cease to exist” without his country’s support.
Here’s a recap of what happened on Day 32 of the federal election campaign. All times EDT.
7:25 p.m.: Singh comments on Trump’s latest auto threats
Reacting to U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest trade war comments, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said that increasing tariffs even higher would “decimate our automotive sector.”
“I just want those workers to know I’m going to fight to continue to find ways to support you. We need to really reimagine the automotive sector in Canada,” Singh said.
Asked if he thinks the Canadian auto industry could survive without free access to the American market, he repeated his stance that if any automotive manufacturer wants to sell a car in Canada, they need to have a footprint in this country.
“We should be shutting down the market to any company that wants to sell here, unless they’re creating jobs here,” Singh said.
Asked if he thinks what Trump is doing is interfering in the federal election, Singh said “it’s certainly having an impact.”
“Would it rise the level of foreign interference? I mean, I think there are threats to our country that are wrong, and we’ve got all come together and fight back.”
Rachel Aiello, CTV News national correspondent
Trump says Canada would ‘cease to exist’ without U.S. support
Days before Canada’s 2025 federal election, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested the country would “cease to exist” without American support.
Trump made the remarks from the Oval Office on Wednesday, while also alluding to the “51st state” rhetoric that has upset many on this side of the border.
“I have to be honest, as a state, it works great,” Trump told reporters.
The president reiterated his claim that the U.S. doesn’t need anything from Canada, including oil and automobiles, but at another point suggested the two governments are “working on a deal.”
“I’m working well with Canada, we’re doing very well,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”
6:20 p.m.: Poilievre brings out big names for Atlantic stop
Father-son duo Elmer and Peter MacKay, both former Conservative government ministers, introduced Pierre Poilievre at his first Nova Scotia stop of the campaign Wednesday, with just five days until the election.
Elmer MacKay described the Conservative leader as “quick, accurate, smart, well-intentioned,” saying he has all the qualities needed for a prime minister “for a change,” incorporating a party slogan.
Peter MacKay described Poilievre as “tested, steady and ready.”
Both MacKays referenced the late prime minister Brian Mulroney as once having stood in the same Trenton, N.S., hockey arena where the rally was held, decades earlier.
Poilievre joked that Peter MacKay looks like a “Roman God.” He got a couple minor facts wrong during his remarks, with Peter MacKay quietly correcting him on the age he was when nominated and whether it happened in that arena. (It did not.)
The MacKays are perhaps the biggest names in Conservative politics in Nova Scotia. Each formerly held the riding of Central Nova, where the rally was held. During the 2015 election it was won by Liberal Sean Fraser, who is running again.
Abigail Bimman, CTV News national correspondent
Liberals target NDP, Green voters in new ad
In their final ad drop of the election campaign, the Liberals plan to court progressive NDP and Green party voters.
The one-minute ad — which is set to be released Thursday but was obtained by CTV’s Power Play on Wednesday — features leader Mark Carney sharing an anecdote from a teacher he met on the campaign trail, who says some of her elementary-school-aged students are worried about the ongoing trade war and U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to Canadian sovereignty.
“Our children should be able to dream about a positive future, not worry about an economic crisis,” Carney says in the video.
A source with knowledge of the ad says the goal is to show a more progressive side of Carney and target NDP and Green swing voters, while pitching him as the best leader to stand up to Trump.
With files from CTV News’ Stephanie Ha
3:25 p.m.: Carney targets NDP strongholds in B.C.
Days before the federal election, Liberal Leader Mark Carney returned to B.C. Wednesday to make another pitch to voters in targeted NDP strongholds.
At a news conference in Victoria – a riding that’s been held by the New Democrats for nearly 20 years – Carney once again highlighted the threat of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, an issue that pollsters have said benefits the Liberals over Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives.
“The Americans want our land, they want our resources, they want our water, they want our country,” Carney said. “We need to fight them.”
He promised the Liberal platform would boost B.C.’s mining and forestry industries, the latter of which is facing significant uncertainty while waiting for U.S. import duties to more than double later this year.
Carney touted the party’s planned $10 billion investment in housing, including mass produced pre-fabricated homes, that he said would “end the housing crisis” while utilizing B.C. lumber.
He also vowed to “transform” the province’s mining industry by funding transportation networks to connect critical mineral extraction projects to supply chains in Asia.
Wednesday marked the Liberal leader’s second stop in the riding in just over two weeks. Later in the day, he’s scheduled to visit another longtime NDP stronghold, Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke.
Nik Nanos, chief data scientist for Nanos Research, said the province is in the midst of a “political feeding frenzy,” with both the Liberals and Conservatives hoping to snatch seats away from the NDP.
“British Columbia right now is a toss-up,” Nanos said. “Jagmeet Singh and the New Democrats are in the fight for their life.”
Andrew Weichel, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist
3:20 p.m.: GG Mary Simon to go to Pope’s funeral
Prime Minister Mark Carney will not be taking time away from the federal election campaign to attend the funeral for Pope Francis.
He says Gov. Gen. Mary Simon will represent Canada alongside a senior delegation at the Vatican ceremony Saturday.
Read more here.
The Canadian Press
1:15 p.m.: ‘I don’t hear a bell’ Singh says fight not over
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, facing more questions today about whether he will stay on as party leader or resign if his party fails to maintain official party status after this election, said “this fight’s not over.”
“I don’t hear a bell… You guys hear a bell? … This round is not over… This election is not over,” Singh said.
This response came after his predecessor Tom Mulcair said Singh should resign, and after Singh told supporters at a rally last night that the election “isn’t just about stopping something bad, it’s about fighting for something better.”
Last night, alongside former Alberta premier Rachel Notley, Singh rolled out yet another new message as he fights to stick an argument for Canadians to vote NDP on Monday, after a campaign largely focused on the threat of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Singh made the assertion that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is “not going to win this election,” as Canadians “don’t want Trump-style politics here.” He added, though, that “if the Liberals win, just because they’re less bad, nothing gets better.”
Campaign sources tell CTV News to expect Singh to keep making this case to progressives as the election enters its last leg.
Rachel Aiello, CTV News National Correspondent
Manning says Conservative government needed to prevent separatism
To former opposition leader Preston Manning, the solution to keeping Canada unified is simple: Replace Mark Carney’s Liberal government this election, under a different party banner.
“I’m very strongly on Canadians uniting, but the question is: ‘Uniting behind whom, and for what’?” he told CTV Your Morning in an interview Wednesday.
“I suggest that they need to unite between a fresh, new administration that does not have all this baggage.”
Manning, who led the Reform Party of Canada from 1987 until 2000, describes the almost 10 years of past governments as “Liberal misrule” in the eyes of Western Canada, citing policy disputes over deficits, pipelines, climate change and the resource sectors.
Alberta and Saskatchewan, but also parts of Manitoba, British Columbia and the territories, don’t want to “be subjected to another four years of Liberal rule,” he says, even as Carney’s policies have diverged from those under former Liberal leader Justin Trudeau.
“There’s simply a skepticism about Mister Carney making a 180-degree turn,” Manning said.
Read the full story here.
Charlie Buckley, CTVNews.ca National Digital Producer
12:30 p.m.: Singh says Liberals won’t protect renters
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is reiterating that his party would institute a ban on renovictions and demovictions – terms referring to a practice where landlords use the pretext of renovations to force out old tenants so that they can bring in new ones at a much higher rent.
Speaking in Edmonton outside a building where tenants are allegedly being forced out, Singh said that only the NDP will protect renters.
“We’re going to fight for national rent control to make sure that no one has to worry about this happening to them again,” Singh said. “We’re going to ban corporations from buying up affordable homes, because that’s what they’re doing.”
He predicted that Poilievre has already lost the election and said that people can’t trust the Liberals to protect the interests of renters.
“Sadly, Mark Carney, Pierre Poilievre – their plan is to protect investors. They want to protect the landlords, the corporate landlords. We want to protect you,” Singh said.
“So in this election, you’ve got an important question. People have rejected Pierre Poilievre, and I think that’s pretty clear, he’s not going to win this election. But do you want Mark Carney to have all the power?”
With polls showing his party bleeding support, Singh has been trying to make the case that having New Democrats in Parliament is still essential so that they can hold the government to account.
Joshua Freeman, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist
11:50 a.m. Poilievre defends economic plan
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is defending his party’s fiscal plan.
During a campaign stop in Hamilton, Poilievre was asked whether it made sense to put forward a plan that relies on growth for revenue at a time when Canada could be headed for a recession.
“You ask me, in a period of economic weakness, after the Liberals have been in power for three terms, whether it is wise to campaign on economic growth. It’s not only wise, it’s essential for a change that we grow our economy,” Poilievre said.
On Tuesday the Conservatives released their costed platform, which forecasts $100 billion in deficits over the next four years.
In part, it rests on revenues to be generated from increased economic activity around things like home-building.
Joshua Freeman, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist
10 a.m.: Poilievre vows to toughen laws around encampments
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is promising to crack down on homeless encampments and tent cities if elected.
“Encampments now fill spaces where children and families once gathered,” Poilievre said at a campaign stop in Hamilton. “Our public spaces have become breeding grounds for addiction, violence, human trafficking and crime.”
Encampments have sprung up across the country in recent years, with municipalities and police services struggling to find a balance between maintaining safe public spaces and being sensitive to encampment inhabitants, many of who are vulnerable individuals.
Poilievre said he would amend the Criminal Code to give police the power to charge individuals “when they violate the right to be safe in public spaces or discourage the public from using, moving through, or otherwise accessing public spaces by setting up temporary structures, including tents.”
He said a Conservative government would make it clear in law that police are allowed to dismantle encampments, while also making sure encampment residents are connected with appropriate services, such as housing, addiction treatment and mental health services.
Calling encampments places where “half-dead, contorted bodies lie on the ground on the verge of overdose from fentanyl,” he said allowing encampments to grow is “chaos, not compassion.”
Poilievre said a Conservative government would also give judges the power to order people charged for illegally occupying public spaces and simple possession of illegal drugs to attend mandatory drug treatment programs.
The Conservative leader touted an endorsement by the Toronto Police Association – the union representing Toronto police officers – as well as the endorsement of other police unions in Durham, Peel, Barrie, and Sault Ste. Marie.
Joshua Freeman, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist
Liberals lead Conservatives by 5 points: Nanos
The Liberals have a five-point advantage over the Conservatives on Day 32 of the 36-day federal election campaign.
A three-day rolling sample by Nanos Research conducted on April 20-22 has the Liberals at 44 per cent over the Conservatives, who are up a few points at 39 per cent nationally.
The New Democratic Party is at eight per cent, followed by the Bloc Quebecois (five per cent), Green Party of Canada (three per cent) and the People’s Party of Canada (one per cent).
Regionally, Liberals are ahead in the Atlantic, Ontario, Quebec and B.C., while Conservatives remain dominant in the Prairies.
When it comes to whom Canadians prefer as prime minister, Liberal Leader Mark Carney has a 14-point advantage, with 49 per cent choosing him over Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who sits at 35 per cent. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh remains a distant third at four per cent.
Read the full story here.
Phil Hahn, CTVNews.ca election editor-in-chief
