OTTAWA -- Several candidates will soon announce they're running for the NDP leadership, outgoing leader Tom Mulcair said Wednesday.

"I'm expecting, and I'm quite sure, we'll see several candidacies announced right after Christmas," Mulcair said in an interview with Don Martin, host of Power Play.

Two New Democrat MPs have stepped aside from their roles in the party to consider leadership bids. Charlie Angus, who represents Ontario's Timmins-James Bay riding, and Peter Julian, who represents New Westminster-Burnaby in British Columbia, are said to be thinking of running.

So far, there are no candidates in the NDP race, which is set to culminate next September. The Conservative Party will choose its new leader on May 27 and has 14 candidates with another two considering bids.

"Don't forget the party took a long approach to the date, so it's not until next fall. And one of the reasons, and I thought it was a smart one, [is] they wanted to make sure that members had the information on who the new Conservative leader was going to be," Mulcair said.

The outgoing NDP leader says he'll "probably" end 2017 as an MP, despite losing his role at the head of the party.

"I'm going to work it out with the new leader," Mulcair said.

"I haven't come to a definitive decision yet, but I've said all along I'm going to be very open to working with that person... I actually like this opposition stuff, of holding the government to account."