Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s bid to regain a seat in Parliament through a byelection could cost taxpayers more than $1 million, according to data from recent races.
When Poilievre led the Conservatives to defeat in the April 28 federal election, he also lost his Ottawa-area riding by more than 4,500 votes. Long considered a Conservative stronghold, the Carleton seat was handily won by Liberal political rookie Bruce Fanjoy, a major upset that ended Poilievre‘s two decades in parliament.
With Poilievre now seeking re-election in what’s expected to be a safe Alberta riding, the most recent data from Elections Canada data suggests the byelection could cost as much as $1.95 million.
What’s next for Poilievre?
Poilievre was first elected to the House of Commons in 2004, just after his 25th birthday, defeating two-term incumbent and then-Liberal defence minister David Pratt, to represent the since-reorganized Nepean—Carleton riding in Ottawa.
Despite a stinging loss on April 28, Poilievre has vowed to stay on as Conservative leader. On Friday, his party announced that Conservative MP-elect Damien Kurek would resign to allow Poilievre to run in a byelection in the Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot.
“It is with humility and appreciation that I have accepted Damien Kurek’s offer to resign his seat in Battle River-Crowfoot so that I can work to earn the support of citizens there to serve them in Parliament,” Poilievre, who was born and raised in Alberta, said in a statement on X.
Battle River-Crowfoot is one of the safest Conservative seats in the country. Kurek won the riding on April 28 with nearly 83 per cent of the vote. Only one other electoral district in Canada had a higher margin of victory, with 84 per cent of voters in Saskatchewan’s Souris—Moose Mountain riding casting ballots to re-elect Conservative MP Steven Bonk.
The Longest Ballot Committee, who was responsible for adding 85 of the 91 names on the Carleton ballot, is planning to do the same when Poilievre eventually runs in Battle River-Crowfoot.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised to call the Battle River—Crowfoot byelection “as soon as possible.”
How much do byelections cost?
Data provided to CTVNews.ca by Elections Canada shows how expensive byelections can be.
The 11 byelections held since the last federal election in 2021 cost a total of $18.6 million, or an average of nearly $1.7 million each.
Based on 2024 data, Elections Canada estimates that byelections cost approximately $22.91 per registered elector.
At that rate, and with 85,237 registered electors in Battle River-Crowfoot, Poilievre‘s byelection could cost taxpayers as much as $1.95 million.
The 2024 figure was a 34 per cent increase from 2023, when byelections cost an estimated $16.21 per registered elector. Even at that rate, Poilievre‘s byelection would cost more than $1.38 million.
Looking back further in time, 37 byelections were held between 2014 and 2024 at an average cost of more than $1.2 million each.
Held to fill vacant seats in Parliament, byelections can occur for a variety of reasons, including when an MP retires, resigns or passes away. Elections Canada largely attributes the rising costs of byelections to inflation and location.
“The length of the election period and the location of electoral districts can impact significantly the costs related to a byelection,” an Elections Canada spokesperson told CTVNews.ca. “For example, the Greater Toronto area will have higher than average costs.”
Should taxpayers be on the hook?
Duff Conacher is the co-founder of Democracy Watch, a non-profit that advocates for democratic reform and government accountability. Conacher says taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for byelections like the one Poilievre plans to run in.
“The federal election law should be changed to require the party to pay the costs of a byelection when the only reason the byelection is being held is so the party’s leader can have a seat in the House of Commons,” Conacher told CTVNews.ca. “Party leaders have the power to choose what riding they will run in each election, and if they make the wrong choice or lose … the public shouldn’t have to pay the costs of those decisions.”
Ending wasteful government spending was central to Poilievre‘s campaign in the 2025 federal election.
“Only Common Sense Conservatives will fix the budget for real,” Poilievre said in a February speech. “We will cut bureaucracy, consultants, corporate welfare, foreign aid and other wasted money.”
The Conservative Party of Canada did not respond to a request for comment.
Franco Terrazzano is the federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, a non-profit taxpayer advocacy group. While Terrazzano says the Conservatives were “the only major national party campaigning hard against government waste,” he doesn’t take issue with the proposed byelection.
“There‘s lots of other places for the government to cut before it starts thinking about reducing democratic participation,” Terrazzano told CTVNews.ca. “The last thing we will ever complain about is the cost of putting ballots in boxes.”
