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. Their majority was decided by a single seat, and the riding of Surrey-Guildford was decided by 22 votes after a judicial recount, meaning that the overall result of the election was decided by 22 votes.
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:
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).
Incumbents not standing for re-election
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 years—Vicki 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. Electronic vote tabulators contributed to significant increases in reporting speed.
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
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
- February 5 – Kevin Falcon wins the 2022 British Columbia Liberal Party leadership election.
- June 28 – John Horgan announces his intention to step down as premier and as leader of the NDP.
- October 21 – David Eby is declared leader of the BC NDP in the 2022 leadership election by acclamation and becomes the premier-designate.
- November 16 – BC Liberal members approve the party's name change to "BC United".
- November 18 – Eby is sworn in as premier of British Columbia.
2023
- March 31 – John Rustad acclaimed as new leader in the 2023 Conservative Party of British Columbia leadership election to replace outgoing leader Trevor Bolin.
- April 12 – The BC Liberal Party officially changes its name to BC United.
2024
- January 31 – Sonia Furstenau (Cowichan Valley) announces that she will run in Victoria-Beacon Hill.
- February 5 – Selina Robinson is removed from cabinet and announces that she will not seek re-election as MLA for Coquitlam-Maillardville. Lisa Beare replaces her as Minister of Advanced Education.
- August 28 – Kevin Falcon announces the suspension of BC United's campaign, and endorses the Conservative Party.
- September 21 – Writ for general election dropped by the lieutenant governor, for October 19.
- September 28, 1 pm – Deadline for candidate nominations.
- October 19 – General election is held.
- October 26 to 28 – Final count is conducted. Mail-in and absentee ballots are counted. Recounts are completed in Surrey City Centre, Juan de Fuca-Malahat, and a partial recount in Kelowna Centre.
- October 28 – CBC News projects that the NDP will form government.
- November 7 to 8 – Judicial recounts held in Kelowna Centre, Surrey-Guildford, and a partial judicial recount in Prince George-Mackenzie.
- December 12 – The BC NDP and BC Greens announce the "Co-operation and Responsible Government Accord"
Campaign
New Democratic
On September 20, one day before the writ was dropped, the BC New Democratic Party unveiled their campaign bus in Surrey, which is home to some anticipated key ridings, marking the start of their campaign.
On September 23, the BC NDP released a video of Rustad saying he regrets receiving the "so-called [COVID-19] vaccine", as well as claiming the vaccine mandates were about population control. BC NDP leader David Eby criticized these statements, asserting that such beliefs are based on internet conspiracies and that Rustad could not be trusted on health policy.
On September 25, Eby promised his party would provide 25,000 new homes while financing 40% of the purchase price for first-time home buyers, at an annual cost of $1.29 billion. On September 27, he stated that the government would continue its focus on the use of prefabricated homes as a strategy to ease the housing crisis, with the government pre-approving designs for permits and developing skills training programs in consultation with the industry.
Following the Conservative Party's tax rebate proposal, the New Democrats announced their tax relief plan on September 29. Eby announced that $10,000 of individual income will be exempted from annual tax, adding that 90% of taxpayers would save $1,000 per year.
On October 1, Bowinn Ma, NDP candidate in North Vancouver-Lonsdale, announced the party would connect West Vancouver and Metrotown, Burnaby with a Bus Rapid Transit line, which will be entirely separated from traffic. In short term, they would also guarantee the existing R2 RapidBus would be extended from Phibbs Exchange to Metrotown.
On October 4, the NDP filed a petition with the Supreme Court of British Columbia seeking to compel Elections BC to change the name of the Conservative Party on ballot papers from "Conservative Party" to "B.C. Conservative Party", on the grounds that Rustad was "pretending to be part of the federal Conservative Party". A court ruling in favour of the NDP would require all ballot papers to be reprinted.
Conservative
On September 21, John Rustad chose to kick off the campaign in CRAB Park, a homeless encampment near Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. In his speech, he emphasized the severity of the addiction issue, as well as the importance of removing the carbon tax and investing in healthcare.
On September 22, Rustad announced that he would close all safe injection sites in the province, and replace them with mental health and addictions treatment centres. He referred to the sites as "drug dens", and pledged to end the decriminalization and safe supply policy introduced by the NDP government. In response, NDP leader David Eby and Green leader Sonia Furstenau both condemned the platform, pointing out the closure of safe injection sites would push the drug addicts back on streets. The following day, Elenore Sturko clarified that the party did not plan to immediately close all of the safe injection sites at once as implicated by Rustad, but transition them to treatment centres gradually. Sturko stated that "this is about transitioning people, not medicating them", and that "we need to make sure the model is supported medically".
On September 23, Rustad revealed the Conservatives' plan for tax rebates to alleviate high housing costs, which he claimed would be the greatest tax cut in BC history. The rebate would allow renters and homeowners with mortgage to exempt up to $3,000 per month from their provincial income tax. The program would start in 2026, where the exemption would begin with $1,500 per month, costing $900 million for the first year. The exemption amount would increase by $500 each year, and the final annual cost would be at $3.5 billion.
On September 25, Sturko requested an investigation by the Registrar of Lobbyists for BC against Ravi Kahlon, the incumbent Minister of Housing. She alleged the minister might be involved in a conflict of interest as his sister Parm Kahlon owns a government relations firm, where a client of the firm would be a potential partner in housing projects. Kahlon has refuted the allegation and defended that the housing company does not do work with the government.