New Delhi, September 20: Canada is set to cast vote to elect its 44th Parliament amid the coronavirus pandemic on Monday, September 20. Notably, the incumbent-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for the parliamentary elections two years prior to the schedule which, reports say, is a decision taken to cash on his government's popularity in handling the pandemic and give Trudeau's Liberal Party, which currently hold a minority position, a majority edge in the Parliament. However, the Liberals are facing a head strong competition Conservative Party and its leader Erin O'Toole. Canada Elections 2021: Liberals and Conservatives Neck-and-Neck As Voting Begins.

The Canadian Parliamentary Elections 2021 were announced in mid-August giving the contenders a period of five weeks to campaign for voting on 338 parliamentary seats. Although COVID-19 remains the main issue, economy, housing, climate crisis also are concerning factors in the polls, reports say. In 2019 elections, Justin Trudeau became the Prime Minister of the country for second consecutive term with his Liberal party securing 157 seats while the Conservative Party won on 121 parliamentary seats. Trudeau first came into power in 2015. Canada Elections 2021: Justin Trudeau Calls for Snap Election on September 20.

Here Is All You Need To Know About Canadian Parliamentary Elections 2021:

  • The voting for Canadian Parliamentary Elections 2021 is taking place today, September 20. The polls have been called two years prior to the original schedule.

  • Canada follows the system of parliamentary democracy wherein the party who wins a majority stake in the parliament comes to power. The Canadian parliament has two segments- the upper house and the lower house.

  • The Canadians will vote for the lower house or the House of Commons which constitutes of 338 seats. In order to form the government, a political party needs at least 170 seats in the lower house.

  • More than 27 million voters are eligible to cast their votes in the ongoing parliamentary elections in Canada, belonging to ten provinces in three territories.

  • The voters who wish to apply for Special Ballot can do the same till 6 pm on the sixth day prior to the election, hold the Canada Election Act. For 2021 elections, the deadline for the same was September 14, 6 pm.

  • The country stretches across different time zones, the open and close times of the voting would be different across Canada. It's west coast would witness the country's last polls closing at 7.00 pm local time.

  • The biggest faces of elections remain the incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is serving his second term in the office, and the Conservative Party leader Erin O'Toole. Liberal Party and Conservative Party main contenders to form government.

  • According to Poll Tracker by CBC News', Trudeau at 31.4 per cent is facing a close competition from O'Toole at 30.9 per cent, as of September 19, a day prior to the polls. Meanwhile, New Democratic Party's Jagmeet Singh was at the third spot.

Since the polls were called amid the coronavirus pandemic, the opposition has heavily criticized the move. O'Toole had repeatedly targeted Trudeau for the same during this election campaign. According the recent data by the Johns Hopkins University, Canada has at least reported over 1.56 million COVID-19 cases, and more than 27,300 deaths due to the virus so far.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 20, 2021 01:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).