The GTA's top federal election storylines

Election day is here and the Greater Toronto Area is once again poised to be the region that has a huge say in who becomes Canada's next prime minister. 

Polling stations close at 9:30 p.m. ET, so please get out and vote while you can today. Head to the Elections Canada website if you need information on how to vote.

CBC News will have live results as soon as they start rolling in. 

Here are the key storylines we're watching in the CBC Toronto newsroom — and check back on this story because we'll be updating it once we know more. 

Can the Conservatives win more GTA seats?

There are 31 seats up for grabs in the GTA, and right now the Conservatives have just four of them.

If the Conservatives can't increase that total, it's hard to see a path to victory — let alone a majority government. 

Here are two ridings where Pierre Poilievre's party will be hoping to break through:

Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill: The riding that gave the Liberals their slimmest margin of victory in the entire 905 in the last election campaign, at just 3.1 per cent.  

Newmarket-Aurora: The Liberal MP who held the seat is not running again.

WATCH: Breaking down why these ridings matter so much to the Conservatives:

The 905 ridings the Conservatives need to win in the election

11 days ago

Duration 2:11

The Greater Toronto Area is a pivotal battleground in the federal election. CBC's Mike Crawley breaks down which ridings will be crucial tests for Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives.

Will the Liberals retake Toronto-St. Paul's?

It was a political earthquake last summer when the Conservatives won a byelection in Toronto-St. Paul's, long heralded as a Liberal stronghold smack in the centre of the city. 

Can the Liberals win it back now that Mark Carney is leading the party instead of Justin Trudeau?

• Looking for more ridings to watch? Here's a longer list of interesting races

WATCH | The CBC's Chris Glover heads to Toronto's Davenport (which the Liberals won by just 165 votes in 2021) to break down the closest races in the last federal election:

What's swaying voters in Ontario's tightest races?

14 days ago

Duration 5:41

In the latest installment of our federal election series "Your Voice, Your Vote," CBC's Chris Glover breaks down ridings with historically right races — and speaks to residents about how those slim margins are affecting their votes.

Candidate watch

Federal elections are often all about picking a party and prime minister, but when you enter the polling booth you'll really be voting for your local MP. There are some candidates we'll be watching on election night, here are a few:

Bhutila Karpoche (NDP): The popular NDP politician who became the first Tibetan-Canadian elected at Queen's Park is making her first federal run. Can she break through in a city that's been dominated by the Liberals?

Jamil Jivani (CON): He cruised to a byelection win in what is now Bowmanville–Oshawa North (a Tory stronghold) in 2024, but the political climate is radically different now. Jivani's college buddy is ... U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance. Will that hurt his political chances? 

Jennifer McKelvie (LIB): She's a Toronto city councillor but she's stepped back from that gig to run in Ajax, where she says she has "deep personal and professional ties." Will that be enough to hold the seat?

Will Burlington pick the winner again?

Via Mike Crawley, our newsroom's electoral historian: Burlington has elected a member of the winning party in every general election since 1984.

Some 31,868 have already cast their ballot during advance polls in the riding, according to Elections Canada data.

It's looking like voter turnout will improve

Remember how the GTA is super politically important? It's also got apathy issues. 

WATCH: What do wealth, loneliness and education have in common? They all affect someone's likeliness to vote: 

Why some GTA ridings have among the worst voter turnout — and what could change that

26 days ago

Duration 8:55

Despite being a key battleground during most elections, the GTA's voter turnout track record is even worse than other places across Ontario. CBC's Chris Glover spoke to residents to find out why.

The region was home to nine of the 10 Ontario ridings with the worst voter turnout in the 2021 federal election — the lowest being in King-Vaughan, where fewer than half of eligible voters cast a ballot.

A record 7.3 million Canadians voted early, but we'll still be watching this to see how it goes.