Canada election 2025: How and when to watch the federal debates

With days to go until advance voting begins for the 2025 Canada election, the leaders of five of the country’s major political parties are set to square off in two official debates.

Liberal Party of Canada leader Mark Carney and Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre, the two front-runners according to multiple public opinion polls, will participate in debates organized by the federal Leaders’ Debates Commission for the first time since assuming their parties’ leadership.

The pair will be going up against Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet and New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh, who both are debate veterans having gone up against other party leaders in 2019 and 2021.

This year’s debates will be the first in the past three federal elections where Elizabeth May will not represent the Green Party of Canada on the debate stage. In March, the party announced co-leader Jonathan Pedneault would act as the party’s spokesperson.

The Leaders’ Debates Commission, an independent public organization, was created in 2018 and given a mandate to organize two debates during each general election.

Major issues on the campaign trail that could come up during the debates include Canada-U.S. relations, the economy and the associated impacts of tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, affordability and housing. According to the commission, the debate will have up to four themes based on consultations.

When and where are the official Canada election debates?

Both debates organized by the commission will be held in Montreal.

The French language debate will be held on April 16 at 6 p.m. MDT. It will be moderated by Radio-Canada’s Patrice Roy.

The English language debate will be held on April 17 at 5 p.m. MDT. It will be moderated by TVO’s Steve Paikin.

Commission officials said the debates will also be shared in Indigenous and non-official languages as well as with ASL, LSQ (Langue des Signes Québécoise), closed captioning and described video.

Where to watch the debates?

Both events will be streamed on CityNews 24/7. Click here to access the feed.

How are the participants chosen?

According to eligibility information published by the Leaders’ Debates Commission, participants are required to meet at least two criteria:

• There must be one member of parliament elected under the party’s banner at the time the 2025 federal election was called
• The party must have at least four per cent of support in polls “measured by leading national public opinion polling organizations using the average of those organizations’ most recently publicly reported results” 28 days before the general election date
• The party must have endorsed candidates in at least 90 per cent of Canada’s ridings 28 days before the general election date

A news release shared by the Leaders’ Debates Commission earlier in April said the People’s Party of Canada only met one of the criteria needed (endorsement of candidates in 342 out of 343 ridings). The party didn’t have anyone elected under its banner at the time parliament dissolved and it only had 2.3 per cent support in polling. The statement said the party’s leader would not be invited to attend.

How and when to vote

The general election date is April 28, but advance voting happens between April 18 and 21.

Click here to confirm your riding, the list of candidates running in your riding and the local Elections Canada office.

For more information on identification needed to cast a ballot, click here.