OTTAWA - Over the coming months, seven seats in the House of Commons will be up for grabs due to vacancies, but NDP Leader Avi Lewis will not be trying to win any of them.
Between MPs who have already resigned and those who have announced intentions to, Elections Canada will soon be busy running byelections in ridings across the country, opening opportunities for new faces to be elected to represent their ridings.
But, according to an NDP spokesperson, Lewis – whose party currently holds just five seats federally – plans to spend his time focused on “rebuilding the party,” rather than trying to expand the New Democrats’ foothold on Parliament Hill.
“In the coming months, Mr. Lewis will continue to travel across the country to meet with and listen to Canadians in the midst of a historic cost-of-living emergency and share the NDP’s vision for building an economy that works for them,” said NDP communication director Donya Ziaee in an email to CTV News.
“He will also be raising money, identifying strong local candidates and key organizers, and strengthening the ground game ahead of the next election.”
Lewis clinched the NDP leadership in March, securing 56 per cent support on a promise to bring the NDP to a place where it could form a government “that serves the many, not the money.”
The major critique he faced from his main opponent, and runner-up Heather McPherson, was that he had never been elected and the party needs someone who knows how to win.
Prior to the leadership, Lewis ran twice, unsuccessfully, for the federal NDP.
He first tried in West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea-to-Sky in 2021. Then in 2025, he ran in Vancouver Centre. Lewis placed third both times.
The party said that Lewis’ decision to put off trying to get elected is “in keeping with discussions with the NDP caucus and elected officers, as well as the overwhelming mandate given to him by members to revive the party and prepare it for the next election.”
The four currently vacant seats in the House are Chicoutimi–Le Fjord, Que., vacated earlier this week by Conservative MP-turned-Senate appointee Richard Martel; Beaches–East York, Ont., held by Liberal Nathaniel Erskine-Smith since 2015; North Vancouver–Capilano, B.C., formerly represented by ex-Liberal cabinet minister Jonathan Wilkinson, who resigned this spring to take a diplomatic posting; and Saint-Hyacinthe–Bagot–Acton, Que., vacated by Bloc Québécois MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, who left to run for the Parti Québécois in this fall’s provincial election.
The earliest date for the byelections to be held is Aug. 10.
The other three ridings that are expected to open up soon are Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, Que., where NDP-turned Independent MP Alexandre Boulerice has announced plans to leave; Yorkton—Melville, Sask., which Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall said she’ll be vacating on Aug. 31; and Laurier-Sainte-Marie, Que. where ex-environment minister and Liberal MP Steven Guilbeault will be leaving his seat later this summer.
Last month, Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters that he hadn’t yet decided when to call the slate of looming byelections, indicating they could be conducted in stages.
