Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called a federal election for September 20.

Canadians have been expecting Trudeau to call an election for some time. In recent months, Trudeau’s Liberal Party has been ahead in the polls, and the prime minister has been touring the country making funding announcements. Though the government does not legally need to have an election until 2023, polls suggest that support for the Liberals is high and it could be an opportune moment for Trudeau to try for a majority government. The Liberals lost their majority in 2019 and have led a minority government ever since.

A minority government means that the governing party does not have the majority of the Canadian Parliament’s 338 seats and the party must work with other parties to create new laws.

The 2019 election resulted in parties winning the following number of seats:

• Liberals won 157 seats
• Conservatives won 121 seats
• Bloc Québécois won 32 seats
• New Democratic Party (NDP) won 24 seats
• Green Party won 3 seats
• An Independent candidate won 1 seat