Canada election live updates: Polls open for crucial vote after Trump and his trade war dominate campaign

The Liberal party, led by Mark Carney, has promised that “Canada will never be America,” a sentiment that may hit home for many Canadians amid the ongoing trade war with Donald Trump.

“We must protect our belief in the common good – our belief that we are stronger together. Canada will never be America,” the Liberal party website states.

“From public health care to Canada-wide child care to bilingualism, Canadians recognize that these are the things that make us strong and that being there for one another is fundamental to our way of life.”

According to an estimate by Elections Canada, a record-breaking 7.3 million Canadians cast their ballots for the federal election in advance polls over the long weekend.

That marks a 25 per cent increase from the 5.8 million electors who voted in advance during the 2021 federal election, the agency saod.

Françoise Enguehard, a regional media adviser in the Atlantic region for Elections Canada, told CBC News it’s too early to say whether the record-high turnout will lead to higher voter turnout for the election overall,

He added that the numbers indicate that Canadians are “engaged” this time around.

For those wanting to watch coverage of the Canadian election, national broadcaster CBC has a wide variety of ways to watch.

The broadcaster’s election day coverage starts at 6 a.m. on CBC TV, CBC News Network, CBCNews.ca, the CBC News app, CBC Gem and YouTube.

Live election day specials start with Power & Politics at 4 p.m. ET.

At 6:30 p.m. Rosemary Barton, Adrienne Arsenault, Ian Hanomansing, Catherine Cullen and Cochrane will host Canada Votes: Election Night.

The first results from the Canadian election will likely come in late on Monday night or early on Tuesday morning.

However, the election may be called earlier depending on the results in the east – in Ontario and Quebec – which have the biggest tranches of polls.

If either candidate wins big there it could provide a good indicator of who the overall winner will be.

Voters across Canada have been hitting the polls all day, but due to the time difference they may be closing at different times.

The first polls to close will be Newfoundland and parts of Labrador, which will at 7.p.m.

The provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the rest of Labrador close next at 7.30 p.m.

Polls in Ontario, Quebec and Nunavut, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, the Northwest Territories and bits of British Columbia will close at 9:30 p.m.

The rest of British Columbia and Yukon are due to close last, at 10:00 p.m.

A fire has been reported at a polling station in Canada on election day.

The WFCU centre in Windsor, Ontario, had to be evacuated today, with voters forced to cast their ballots at another location, according to local reports, including CTV News.

Canadians will decide on Monday whether to extend the Liberal Party’s decade in power or instead give control to the Conservatives. They will pick either prime minister Mark Carney or opposition leader Pierre Poilievre to lead the way forward, but the election is also a referendum of sorts on someone who isn’t even Canadian: Donald Trump.

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Mark Carney has warned that what it means to be Canadian is “at stake” in the election today as US president Donald Trump dominates the campaign.

The current Canadian prime minister said in a video posted on social media on election day: “This election is different than any election certainly in my lifetime. Fundamentally, it’s about what it means to be Canadian – and that’s what’s at stake. Are we coming together, or is it everyone for themselves? I prefer that we come together to build a better country.”