The 2026 British Columbia general election will be held on October 24, 2026, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly to serve in the 44th Parliament of the Canadian province of British Columbia.
Date of the election 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.Constitution Act, s. 23. The previous election was held in 2024; the next election therefore was required to occur by October 21, 2028. 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 premier or following a vote of non-confidence). Due to a snap election being called, the election will instead be held on October 24, 2026.
Background The 2024 British Columbia general election was held on October 19, 2024. The incumbent New Democratic Party (NDP), led by premier David Eby, won a narrow majority government, marking their third consecutive term in office. The opposition BC United (formerly the BC Liberals) withdrew shortly before the election and endorsed the Conservative Party, led by John Rustad, who went on to form the official opposition. The Green Party remained steady with two seats, but leader Sonia Furstenau lost her seat. On December 13, the NDP and Greens announced a co-operation agreement.
Changes in the Greens On January 28, 2025, Furstenau announced her resignation as Green Party leader. Jeremy Valeriote was named interim leader while the party organized a leadership election for September 2025, which was won by Emily Lowan.
Internal divisions among Conservatives After months of party infighting in the Conservative caucus, on December 3, 2025, a letter was sent to the Conservative party president on behalf of 20 Conservative MLAs calling for Rustad to be removed as leader. The MLAs, who remained anonymous, said they had "lost confidence" in his leadership. Rustad dismissed the letter and refused to step down. Subsequently, the party executive declared Rustad "professionally incapacitated" and thus removed him as leader, and named Trevor Halford as interim leader. Rustad disputed the legitimacy of his removal, saying "nothing has changed" and that he remains leader. The following day, Rustad announced his resignation as leader. The party's leadership election in May 2026 was won by former federal Cabinet minister Kerry-Lynne Findlay. Findlay would subsequently resign leadership of the party on September 20, 2026, after a series of MLAs left or were removed from caucus. Findlay was also slated to run as the Conservative candidate in a by-election in Abbotsford-Mission on September 26, following the resignation of Reann Gasper, who resigned to allow Findlay to run for a seat; both the Abbotsford-Mission by-election and a second, unscheduled by-election in Vancouver-Strathcona were cancelled when Eby called the general election. In the Abbotsford-Mission by-election, where early voting had already begun, those ballots were discarded, not counted, and not carried forward toward the general election. Some considered it controversial for Eby to call an election while the opposition is without a permanent leader; while the decision is unambiguously legal, opponents argue it violates "democratic norms".
BC United skirmishes In June 2026, former supporters of BC United met in an effort to reclaim the party's Liberal brand name and plot a potential comeback following the election of Kerry-Lynne Findlay as leader of the BC Conservatives, with a presentation circulating among group members emphasizing the importance of the Liberal name and citing the success of the federal Liberals under Prime Minister Mark Carney. An online Research Co. poll conducted after the BC Conservatives’ leadership race found that 47% of British Columbians believe that BC needs a centre-right party, and 41% say that it's time to bring back the BC Liberals, with an additional voting intention question that included the BC Liberals as an option found the NDP leading with 35% of decided voters, followed by the BC Conservatives (34%) and Liberals (15%).
In September 2026, amid turmoil in the BC Conservatives under Findlay, a grassroots group called Unite Liberal BC sought to revive BC United and called for Falcon and three remaining party board members to step down. The group's stated goals were to give voters what they referred to as a "principled, mainstream centre-right alternative" and to restore democratic member governance to the party. Lead organizer for Unite Liberal BC and former member of BC United's executive council Carol Fielding stated that the party has served as the primary free-enterprise coalition capable of defeating the NDP and that BC United remained an active, debt-free registered political entity with valuable assets and a constitution that vests authority in its membership.
If BC United fails to field at least two candidates for the second election in succession (having not fielded any in the 2024 election), the party would face automatic de-registration under Section 168 of the Election Act.
Incumbents not standing for re-election PartyMember of the Legislative AssemblyElectoral districtFirst electedDate announcedRef.BC Conservative Nechako Lakes2005 December 4, 2025BC NDP Saanich South2009 September 21, 2026BC NDP Richmond-Steveston2020 September 22, 2026BC NDP Delta North2017 September 22, 2026BC Conservative Surrey-Serpentine River2024 September 22, 2026BC Greens Saanich North and the Islands2024 September 23, 2026BC NDP Vancouver-South Granville2020 September 23, 2026BC NDP Vancouver-Fraserview2017 September 27, 2026BC NDP Amelia Boultbee Penticton-Summerland2024 September 28, 2026Independent Hon Chan Richmond Centre2024 October 2, 2026Independent Tara Armstrong Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream2024 October 3, 2026OneBC Brent Chapman Surrey South2024 October 3, 2026
Timeline + 43rd Parliament of British Columbia – Movement in seats held up to the election (2024–2026)Party2024 (election)Gain/(loss) due to2026 (at dissolution) Resignation as MLA Died in office Formed new party Changed allegiance Left caucus Removed from caucus Rejoined caucus47 (1) 1 4744 (1) (2) (12) (6) 5 28– 8 82 2– 2 1 (1) (1) 1 2– (10) 13 7 (6) 4– 1 1 2Total 93 93
+Standings in the 43rd British Columbia ParliamentPartyLeaderHouse members2024 electionAt dissolutionAfter dissolutionDavid Eby474747Lorne Doerksen (interim)442836Jeremy Valeriote, parliamentary222Dallas Brodie (interim)022Elenore Sturko081043Total occupied seats93919102 2Total seats93
2024
December 12 – The BC NDP and BC Greens announce the "Co-operation and Responsible Government Accord".
2025 January 28 – Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau announces her intention to resign. West Vancouver-Sea to Sky MLA Jeremy Valeriote is appointed as interim leader. March 7 – Dallas Brodie is removed from the Conservative caucus for comments about residential schools. Following this, Jordan Kealy and Tara Armstrong leave the Conservative caucus. June 9 – Brodie and Armstrong launch a new party called OneBC, with Brodie serving as interim leader and Armstrong the house leader. September 22 – Conservative leader John Rustad passes his leadership review with 70.66% support. Elenore Sturko is subsequently removed from the Conservative caucus. September 24 – Emily Lowan wins the 2025 Green Party of British Columbia leadership election. October 20 – Amelia Boultbee leaves the Conservative caucus to sit as an independent. November 15 – David Eby survives his leadership review with 82% support. December 3 – Rustad is removed as Conservative leader by the party's board of directors and caucus. He is replaced by Surrey-White Rock MLA Trevor Halford as interim leader. Rustad disputes the legitimacy of his removal. December 4 – Rustad announces his resignation as leader. December 13 – Brodie is removed as interim leader of OneBC. December 16 – Armstrong leaves OneBC to become an independent. The party loses representation in the legislature. December 21 – Brodie reassumes the leadership of OneBC after its board resigns following negotiations. The party regains representation in the legislature but with fewer than two members, it does not have official party status.
2026
February 9 – The BC Greens decide not to renew their "Co-operation and Responsible Government Accord" with the BC NDP. March 26 – Hon Chan is removed from the Conservative caucus and sits as an independent. May 30 – Kerry-Lynne Findlay wins the 2026 Conservative Party of British Columbia leadership election. July 3 – Boultbee joins the New Democratic Party caucus. August 14 – Peter Milobar leaves the Conservative caucus to sit as an independent. August 22 – Reann Gasper steps down as MLA, allowing party leader Findlay to run for her seat in a September by-election. August 24 – Ian Paton leaves the Conservative caucus to sit as an independent. August 25 – Rosalyn Bird leaves the Conservative caucus to sit as an independent. August 26 – Teresa Wat and Brennan Day leave the Conservative caucus to sit as independents. August 27 – Bruce Banman leaves the Conservative caucus to sit as an independent. August 28 – Joan Philip dies. August 31 – Áʼa:líya Warbus leaves the Conservative caucus to sit as an independent. September 2 – Donegal Wilson and Scott McInnis leave the Conservative caucus to sit as independents. September 18 – Trevor Halford, Claire Rattée and John Rustad are removed from the Conservative caucus for calling on Findlay to resign. Eight MLAs join CentreBC, with Peter Milobar becoming leader. September 20 – Linda Hepner leaves the Conservative caucus to sit as an independent. Later that day, Kerry-Lynne Findlay resigns as Conservative leader. Lorne Doerkson becomes the interim leader of the Conservative Party. September 21 – John Rustad, Scott McInnis, Trevor Halford, Claire Rattée, and Linda Hepner return to the Conservative caucus. September 22 – Prior to the election call, Brent Chapman crosses the floor from the Conservatives to OneBC; Eby announces a snap election to be held on October 24, 2026. After the election call, independent Brennan Day and all CentreBC MLAs except for Elenore Sturko rejoin the Conservatives.
Campaign Key dates + Key dates in campaign period Date EventSeptember 22, 2026 Election calledOctober 1, 2026 Register or update voter informationOctober 3, 2026 Nominations closeOctober 16–21, 2026 Advance votingOctober 24, 2026 Election DayNovember 18, 2026 Submission of returns
Party slogans PartySlogan"Build BC Strong""Strong Leadership for Serious Times""Balanced Government for British Columbia""Believe in Better""Excellence in British Columbia"
Debates Leaders' debates of the 2026 British Columbia general election No. Date Place Organizer(s) Topic Moderator Language Participants References Participant Absent invitee Non-invitee Out of race (exploring, withdrawn or disqualified)David EbyLorne DoerksonEmily LowanDallas BrodieElenore Sturko 1 October 13, 2026 Hyatt Regency Vancouver Greater Vancouver Board of Trade Various EnglishIII 2 October 14, 2026 CBC, CTV, Citytv, Global BC, CHEK Various Shachi Kurl EnglishIII
Candidates
Contests
Only the Conservatives are fielding candidates in all 93 districts. The NDP are contesting 92, as they failed to nominate a candidate in Peace River North because of incomplete paperwork.
+ Candidate contests (2026)Candidatesnominated ElectoraldistrictsPartyConNDPGreenCentreBCOneBC Total2 3 3 2 – – – 1 – 63 35 35 35 23 4 5 2 1 1054 35 35 35 33 15 14 4 4 1405 16 16 16 13 12 12 5 6 806 4 4 4 4 4 2 3 3 24Totals 93 93 92 73 35 33 15 14 355
+Candidates for the 2026 British Columbia general election93 seats in the Legislative Assembly of British ColumbiaParty Leader Candidates ConservativeLorne Doerkson (interim)93 New DemocraticDavid Eby92