More than 900,000 students from across Canada cast ballots in Student Vote Canada 2025, a national parallel election program held alongside the federal election to engage youth in democracy.
While the Student Vote does not count toward official election results, it offers a glimpse into how future voters view the political landscape.
Among the 870,340 valid votes cast by students at 5,900 schools across all 343 federal ridings, students elected a Conservative minority government. The party earned 165 seats and 36.4 per cent of the popular vote, while the Liberals formed the official opposition with 145 seats and 31.7 per cent.
BC student voters handed the Conservatives 29 out of 43 seats in the province and reduced the Liberal count to just nine seats. The NDP captured four seats, and the Greens secured one — Elizabeth May's in Saanich-Gulf Islands.
Northern and interior ridings in BC heavily favoured the Conservatives among student voters. In Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies, longtime MP Bob Zimmer (Conservative) won decisively, with students in 35 out of 43 registered schools casting valid ballots.
In Cariboo-Prince George, Conservative candidate Todd Doherty also emerged victorious, earning student support across 22 of 26 participating schools.
These results reflect a broader provincial trend, where the Conservatives claimed more than two-thirds of BC's student vote seats (67.44 per cent), followed by the Liberals at just over 20 per cent, and the NDP at under 10 per cent.
Nationwide, students placed Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives ahead of Mark Carney’s Liberals, marking a hypothetical change in leadership had students decided the outcome. Notably, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh lost his Burnaby South riding, and Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault was also defeated, though Elizabeth May retained her seat.
Despite being a simulated election, Student Vote Canada offers insight into the political awareness and priorities of young Canadians. The program is delivered by the non-partisan charity CIVIX in partnership with Elections Canada, with the goal of nurturing civic engagement from an early age.
For full results and information, visit studentvote.ca.
