The 2024 British Columbia general election was held on October 19, 2024, to elect 93 members (MLAs) of the Legislative Assembly to serve in the 43rd parliament of the Canadian province of British Columbia.
The election was the first to be held since a significant redistribution of electoral boundaries was finalised in 2023. The Legislative Assembly also expanded in size from 87 seats to 93 seats. The election saw a broad political realignment in British Columbia; amid a resurgence for the Conservative Party of British Columbia, the official opposition BC United (formerly the BC Liberals) withdrew from the race a little over a month before the election to avoid splitting the vote. BC United formally endorsed the Conservatives, with several BC United candidates either defecting to the Conservatives or standing as independent or unaligned candidates; this marked the party's first absence from a provincial election since 1900.
The NDP won a third term in government and second consecutive majority government, but with a net loss of eight seats. The Conservatives formed the official opposition, with their best electoral performance since 1928, and the first election since 1952 where they won more than two seats.
Redistribution of electoral districts
The Electoral Boundaries Commission was required to complete a redistribution of seats following the 2020 general election, and the government subsequently appointed commissioners in October 2021. Their final report was completed April 3, 2023. An act was passed later that year, providing for a consequential increase in seats from 87 to 93, upon the next election. The following changes were made:
Abolished NewRenaming of districts Burnaby-Lougheed Burnaby East Cariboo North Prince George-North Cariboo Chilliwack Chilliwack North Chilliwack-Kent Chilliwack-Cultus Lake Kootenay East Kootenay-Rockies Kootenay West Kootenay-Monashee Maple Ridge-Mission Maple Ridge East Nelson-Creston Kootenay Central North Coast North Coast-Haida Gwaii Penticton Penticton-Summerland Port Moody-Coquitlam Port Moody-Burquitlam Richmond North Centre Richmond-Bridgeport Richmond South Centre Richmond Centre Shuswap Salmon Arm-Shuswap Stikine Bulkley Valley-Stikine Vancouver-Kingsway Vancouver-Renfrew Vancouver-Mount Pleasant Vancouver-Strathcona Vernon-Monashee Vernon-LumbyDrawn from other districts Surrey-Serpentine RiverFrom parts of Surrey-Cloverdale, Surrey-Panorama and Surrey-Fleetwood.Reorganization of districts Burnaby-Deer Lake Burnaby-Edmonds New Westminster Burnaby Centre Burnaby-New Westminster Burnaby South-Metrotown New Westminster-Coquitlam Esquimalt-Metchosin Langford-Juan de Fuca Esquimalt-Colwood Juan de Fuca-Malahat Langford-Highlands Kamloops-North Thompson Kamloops-South Thompson Kamloops Centre Kamloops-North Thompson Kelowna-Lake Country Kelowna West Kelowna Centre Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream West Kelowna-Peachland Langley Langley East Langley-Abbotsford Langley-Walnut Grove Langley-Willowbrook Nanaimo Nanaimo-North Cowichan Parksville-Qualicum Ladysmith-Oceanside Nanaimo-Gabriola Island Nanaimo-Lantzville Surrey-Green Timbers Surrey-Whalley Surrey City Centre Surrey North Vancouver-Fairview Vancouver-False Creek Vancouver-Little Mountain Vancouver-South Granville Vancouver-Yaletown
Background Section 23 of British Columbia's Constitution Act provides that general elections occur on the third Saturday in October of the fourth calendar year after the last election. The same section, though, makes the fixed election date subject to the lieutenant governor's prerogative to dissolve the Legislative Assembly as they see fit (in practice, on the advice of the province's premier or following a vote of non-confidence).
Standings + 42nd Parliament of British Columbia – Movement in seats held up to the election (2020–2024)Party2020Gain/(loss) due to2024 Leavescaucus Resignationas MLA Removedfrom caucus Switchingallegiance Byelection hold57 (1) (2) (1) 2 5528(2)(1)(7)220 (from April 12, 2023) – 8 82 2 – 1 2 (1) 2Total87 – (4) – – 4 87
Incumbents not standing for re-election MLAPartySeatFirst electedDate announcedDan Ashton BC UnitedPenticton2013December 20, 2023Harry Bains New DemocraticSurrey-Newton2005July 4, 2024Shirley Bond BC UnitedPrince George-Valemount2001August 29, 2024Katrine Conroy New DemocraticKootenay West2005May 10, 2024Katrina Chen New DemocraticBurnaby-Lougheed2017November 22, 2023Doug Clovechok BC UnitedColumbia River-Revelstoke2017February 24, 2024Mitzi Dean New DemocraticEsquimalt-Metchosin2017August 31, 2024Mike de Jong BC UnitedAbbotsford West1994 by-electionFebruary 14, 2024Fin Donnelly New DemocraticCoquitlam-Burke Mountain2020May 9, 2024Kevin Falcon BC UnitedVancouver-Quilchena2022 by-electionAugust 28, 2024Rob Fleming New DemocraticVictoria-Swan Lake2005July 4, 2024George Heyman New DemocraticVancouver-Fairview2013March 4, 2024Greg Kyllo BC UnitedShuswap2013November 22, 2023Michael Lee BC UnitedVancouver-Langara2017July 11, 2024Norm Letnick BC UnitedKelowna-Lake Country2009November 22, 2023Renee Merrifield BC UnitedKelowna-Mission2020May 16, 2024Mike Morris BC UnitedPrince George-Mackenzie2013March 21, 2023Adam Olsen GreenSaanich North and the Islands2017June 25, 2024Bruce Ralston New DemocraticSurrey-Whalley2005July 2, 2024Murray Rankin New DemocraticOak Bay-Gordon Head2020June 3, 2024Jennifer Rice New DemocraticNorth Coast2013May 16, 2024Selina Robinson IndependentCoquitlam-Maillardville2013February 5, 2024Ellis Ross BC UnitedSkeena2017January 22, 2024Doug Routley New DemocraticNanaimo-North Cowichan2005September 26, 2023Nicholas Simons New DemocraticPowell River-Sunshine Coast2005September 1, 2023Ben Stewart BC UnitedKelowna West2018 by-electionNovember 22, 2023Todd Stone BC UnitedKamloops-South Thompson2013August 29, 2024Jordan Sturdy BC UnitedWest Vancouver-Sea to Sky2013January 12, 2024Jackie Tegart BC UnitedFraser-Nicola2013September 3, 2024
BC United MLA Karin Kirkpatrick originally announced on February 8, 2024, that she would not seek re-election. However, after the campaign suspension of BC United, she changed her mind and decided to run as an independent candidate.
Withdrawal of BC United
On August 28, 2024, BC United leader and Leader of the Opposition Kevin Falcon announced that the party would pull out of the campaign. Falcon endorsed the BC Conservatives, saying "John Rustad and I haven't always agreed on everything, but one thing is clear: our province cannot take another four years of the NDP". Falcon noted that this was done to prevent vote splitting in competitive ridings.
On September 20, BCU announced that it would not field any paper candidates in this campaign. Under BC's election law, they can still maintain their registration as long as they nominate candidates in the next round (tentatively scheduled for 2028).
At the time of BC United's withdrawal, the party had nominated candidates in 56 ridings. Mike Bernier (Peace River South) pointed out that Falcon, as leader, only had the power to withdraw the party from the forthcoming contest, but could not do so on behalf of the individual candidates. Elections BC confirmed that that was a correct interpretation of the elections law, and only the candidates could choose to withdraw or to stand as independent or unaffiliated on the ballot. Several BCU candidates were openly considering accepting a Conservative nomination. Bernier confirmed that he had spoken with Karin Kirkpatrick (West Vancouver-Capilano) about the possibility of several of the BCU candidates forming their own alliance or possible new party before the required registration deadline, or even forming a party post-election, as Legislature rules recognize a party as long as it has at least two MLAs.
Of the 56 originally nominated BC United candidates, 30 withdrew from the campaign, 9 continued to run as a Conservative candidate, while 17 continued to run as an independent or unaffilated candidate.
Independent wave 40 independent and 14 unaffiliated candidates, a record number, were in the race by the time nominations closed. 18 of those candidates were previously BC United candidates or MLAs. This is notable, as only one Independent has been elected to the Legislature in the past 60 yearsVicki Huntington (Delta South) in 2009 and 2013. At the beginning of the campaign, six incumbent MLAs announced that they intended to run as such, of which five had been with BCU and one with the NDP. Karin Kirkpatrick expressed the view that the Conservatives had brought this phenomenon on themselves in believing that BCU members would follow Falcon's lead in switching over. "That’s not how democracy works. People want to run. They’re going to run, and so they’re floundering right now."
Vote counting After trials during by-elections in 2022, Elections BC adopted digital voter rolls and electronic tabulation machines for the first time during this election. The digital roll made it possible to cast ballots at any polling location across the province and enabled mail-in ballots returned before the last day of advance voting – October 16 – to be counted instantly (they were previously counted two weeks after Election Day, thus casting doubt in certain close results).
The tabulators facilitated the vote count process and it was projected that 98% of votes would be reported one hour after polls close, not accounting for mail-in ballots returned after the last day of advance voting, and close results subject to manual recount.
An atmospheric river event struck southwestern British Columbia from October 18 to 20; rainfall was heaviest in the Lower Mainland on October 19, causing flooding in North Shore communities and Surrey, and several street and highway closures. Elections BC stated that paper ballots would be available at voting sites in the event of power outages, and that it had made BC Hydro aware of the locations of voting sites so that they can be prioritized in the event of an outage. While it was suggested that the weather could impact voter turnout, Elections BC stated that a record number of advance ballots had been cast for the election, while the last day of advance voting on October 16 had set a single-day record of 223,000 ballots cast.
Timeline + Changes in seats held (2020–2024) Seat Before Change Date Member Party Reason Date Member PartyVancouver-QuilchenaFebruary 7, 2022Andrew WilkinsonResignedApril 30, 2022Kevin FalconSurrey SouthApril 30, 2022Stephanie CadieuxResignedSeptember 10, 2022Elenore SturkoNechako LakesAugust 18, 2022John RustadRemoved from caucusFebruary 16, 2023Crossed the floorVancouver-Mount PleasantFebruary 22, 2023Melanie MarkResignedJune 24, 2023Joan PhillipLangford-Juan de FucaMarch 31, 2023John HorganResignedJune 24, 2023Ravi Parmar → BC Liberals become BC United (April 12, 2023)Abbotsford SouthSeptember 13, 2023Bruce BanmanCrossed the floorParksville-QualicumSeptember 17, 2023Adam WalkerRemoved from caucusCoquitlam-MaillardvilleMarch 6, 2024Selina RobinsonLeft caucusCariboo-ChilcotinMay 31, 2024Lorne DoerksonCrossed the floorSurrey SouthJune 3, 2024Elenore SturkoCrossed the floorRichmond North CentreJuly 29, 2024Teresa WatCrossed the floorDelta SouthSeptember 3, 2024Ian PatonCrossed the floor to run for the BC ConservativesKamloops-North ThompsonSeptember 3, 2024Peter MilobarCrossed the floor to run for the BC ConservativesSurrey-White RockSeptember 3, 2024Trevor HalfordCrossed the floor to run for the BC Conservatives
2020 October 24 – The 2020 British Columbia general election is held, resulting in a majority government for the BC NDP. November 21 – Andrew Wilkinson steps aside for an interim leader to be selected for the BC Liberal Party. November 23 – Shirley Bond is selected as interim leader of the BC Liberal party.
2021
February 17 – Wilkinson officially resigns, triggering a year-long leadership race.
2022