Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will get the chance to try regaining a seat in the House of Commons this August, after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Monday he’s called a byelection on Aug. 18.
Poilievre is expected to run in the rural Alberta riding of Battle River—Crowfoot, with now-former MP Damien Kurek resigning the seat in the hopes of paving a way for his leader to take his place.
“It would be an honour to represent the people of Battle River—Crowfoot on the floor of the House of Commons, fighting for oil and gas, low taxes, free enterprise, a strong defence and respect for the West,” Poilievre wrote in an email statement to CTV News.
“I will work hard and with humility to earn the support of the amazing people in this extraordinary region,” he added.
Kurek resigned his seat on June 17, the first date at which he was allowed to do so according to parliamentary procedure. He had announced his plans to do so just days following the election.
He was just four months shy of hitting six years of service as an elected member of Parliament, the eligibility threshold for a pension.
“I didn’t get into politics for my pension,” Kurek told CTV Power Play host Vassy Kapelos in an interview on June 18, when asked whether the party has offered to compensate him for the financial loss he’s incurring by stepping down.
Kurek added he made the decision with his wife, and that it was not a request from Poilievre nor the party.
“It wasn’t pressured, wasn’t forced, wasn’t asked,” he said.
“When one talks about leadership, one has those rare opportunities in life where you can put that talk of service into action. And that’s simply what this was,” Kurek also said.
Kurek was first elected to the riding in 2019. He won the 2025 election with nearly 83 per cent of the vote.
Poilievre’s Conservatives had a more-than 20-point lead in the polls for nearly two years, but the Liberals started to gain ground and close the gap around the end of January, following the resignation of former Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau earlier that month.
The inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, his trade war with Canada, and his threats to Canadian sovereignty spurred another shift in the polling. Trudeau’s replacement, now-Prime Minister Carney, successfully campaigning against Poilievre during the federal election on a message of being the best person to take on Trump.
Poilievre, who has been Conservative leader since 2022, lost the seat he’d held for nearly 20 years — the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton — to Liberal political rookie Bruce Fanjoy in the April election.
Without a seat in the House of Commons, Poilievre has been unable to participate in question period during this Parliament. Andrew Scheer is serving as Official Opposition leader in the interim, and as the House has now risen for the summer break, the mid-August byelection means Poilievre could be back in the chamber when MPs return in September.
Advance polls will take place Aug. 8–11.
With files from CTV News’ Luca Caruso-Moro
