TORONTO -- Leaders of the six major federal parties are preparing to face off in two official debates next week ahead of the Oct. 21 election.

Here is everything you need to know about the upcoming English-language and French-language debates to watch, listen, and participate in the conversations.

How to watch

The English-language debate will air on Oct. 7 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. EDT and the French-language debate will air on Oct. 10 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. EDT.

CTVNews.ca will also have a fact-checking live blog on both debate nights, examining the leaders’ claims in real time.

The debates will be available on TV, radio, and online platforms in English, French, Italian, Cantonese, Mandarin, Arabic, Punjabi, Plains Cree, Inuktitut, Eastern Cree, Ojibway, American Sign Language and Quebec Sign Language. 

The debates

The two debates will be hosted and broadcast by a new partnership of 10 news media organizations called the Canadian Debate Production Partnership, which includes CTV News.

Both debates will be held at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que. in front of live non-partisan audiences.

The English-language debate will cover a variety of topics including affordability and economic insecurity; environment and energy; Indigenous issues; leadership in Canada and on the global stage; and polarization, human rights and immigration.

The French-language debate will cover economy and finance, environment and energy, identity, ethics and governance, foreign policy and immigration, and services to citizens.

Each topic will be allotted approximately 20 minutes in each debate, but the format will vary between the two events.

The participants

The confirmed participants for both debates are Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet, and People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier.

The moderators for the English-language debate will be CTV News’ Chief News Anchor and Senior Editor Lisa LaFlamme, Rosemary Barton of CBC News, Susan Delacourt of the Toronto Star, Dawna Friesen of Global News, and Althia Raj of HuffPost Canada.

For the French-language debate, Radio-Canada’s Patrice Roy will moderate along with Helene Buzzetti of Le Devoir, Francois Cardinal of La Presse, Alec Castonquay of L’actualite, and Patricia Cloutier of Le Soleil.

Anyone interested in attending the debates in person can apply for tickets here.