Canada's ruling Liberal Party has won all three byelections held on Monday, a result that strengthens Prime Minister Mark Carney's political hand as he navigates an intensifying trade war with the United States. The Canadian Press projected Liberal victories in Chicoutimi-Le Fjord in Quebec, Beaches-East York in Toronto, and North Vancouver-Capilano in the western province of British Columbia. "At this consequential time for Canada, voters have placed their trust in our government's plan," Carney said in a statement following the results.

The most striking result came in Chicoutimi-Le Fjord, a Quebec constituency that had been held by the opposition Conservative Party since 2018. The region is home to aluminium producers, dairy farms, and other industries directly exposed to the escalating trade dispute with Washington. Liberal candidate Daniel Gobeil was projected to win by a wide margin, with the Conservatives collapsing from roughly 41% of the vote in last year's federal election to approximately 13%, falling to third place. Political scientist Daniel Béland of McGill University, a leading Canadian research university in Montreal, called the Quebec result the most significant of the three, suggesting it reflected broad public support for Carney's decision to walk away from trade negotiations with the White House. The result is a blow to Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. The other two seats had already been held by the Liberals; in North Vancouver-Capilano, Carney's former deputy chief of staff Braeden Caley secured the win.

The byelections took place against a backdrop of sharply deteriorating Canada-US relations. Trade talks collapsed on 21 August after the two sides failed to reach an agreement, after which the Trump administration imposed 50% tariffs on roughly $20 billion worth of Canadian goods. Canada has announced retaliatory tariffs on $20 billion of American products, set to take effect on 8 September. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has publicly blamed Canada for the breakdown, telling Politico: "It's not clear Canada wants a deal," while US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued Canada holds limited leverage because the American economy is roughly 13 times larger. Canadian officials, for their part, attributed the collapse to confusion within the White House over who was directing negotiations.

Carney has responded with notable sharpness, urging Washington to "start being serious" and criticising American officials for what he described as behaviour "beneath their office" — a reference to gestures such as Trump's executive order directing the federal government to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America," a move Canadians have roundly rejected. The prime minister has meanwhile accelerated efforts to deepen economic ties with Europe and other partners, seeking to reduce Canada's dependence on US trade. Former Quebec Premier Jean Charest, a member of the Canada-US Relations Council, framed the moment starkly, saying Canada had "made the decision to stand up to protect its sovereignty."

The three byelection wins bring the Liberals to 173 seats in Canada's 343-seat House of Commons, consolidating the party's parliamentary position. With Carney having won last year's federal election partly on the strength of public anger over Trump's repeated suggestions that Canada should become the 51st US state, Monday's results suggest that national sentiment has, if anything, hardened further — and that the prime minister retains cross-regional support heading into what promises to be a prolonged economic confrontation with Washington.