Early voting turnout was highest in Atlantic Canada, B.C., compared to 2021 election

Elections Canada signage is pictured near an advance polling station in Ottawa on Friday, April 18, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

OTTAWA — B.C. and Atlantic Canada saw the biggest spikes in the number of people voting in advance polls this year, Elections Canada reports.

Elections Canada says that, according to preliminary estimates, a record number of people cast a ballot over the four days of advance polling last weekend. It reports that 7.3 million people voted at advance polls in this election, a 24 per cent increase over 2021.

Turnout in advance went up in every province and territory except Yukon, but B.C. and Atlantic Canada led the way.

An estimated 75,691 people in Newfoundland and Labrador voted in advance polls this time, compared to 49,424 in 2021 — an increase of 53 per cent.

More than 1.1 million people in B.C. cast their ballots in advance polls in this election, up about 35 per cent from 2021 when 813,000 people voted in advance.

In Prince Edward Island, the number of people voting in advance polls spiked by about 41 per cent, from 28,324 to 40,015. In Nova Scotia, the number of advance votes jumped about 31 per cent from 160,179 to 210,030, while in New Brunswick it increased about 25 per cent from 161,199 to 202,006.

About 564,000 more people in Ontario and about 212,000 more people in Quebec showed up to advance polls in this election — increases of about 25 and 15 per cent, respectively.

Alberta saw the number of advance votes increase by about 26 per cent, from 646,090 to 815,131. In Manitoba, advance polls saw an increase of about 22 per cent, from 187,960 to 229,379, while in Saskatchewan the number of advance votes increased about 12 per cent, from 183,898 to 206,754.

The only place that reported a decrease in voting at advance polls was Yukon — 4,748 early ballots cast, compared to 5,318 in 2021, a drop of about 11 per cent.

Nunavut saw an increase of about 22 per cent, from 794 to 967, while the Northwest Territories reported an increase of about four per cent, from 3,499 to 3,631.

The largest number of voters turned out on Monday, April 21 — just over 2.1 million people cast a ballot that day.

Roughly two million people voted on Friday, April 18, another 1.7 million voted on Saturday, April 19 and about 1.5 million voted on Sunday, April 20.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2025.

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press