Canada election results: Trudeau expected to maintain grip on power in minority government after fraught election against Scheer

Latest updates from a night of relief and political redemption for Justin Trudeau

Justin Trudeau delivers speech following win

Justin Trudeau is projected to retain power in the Canada's parliamentary elections, with a likely minority government forming after his Liberal Party shed seats in the country's parliament.

After a vicious campaign season known more for its scandals and vicious attacks than policy, the Liberals walked away from Monday's election with 157 seats — just 13 shiy of a majority.

New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh said he had congratulated Mr Trudeau on winning the most seats and said his party would be a constructive participant in the new parliament.

While it is clearly good news for Mr Trudeau — who has been politically redeemed to some extent after repeated scandal throughout the past year — the sharing of power with the New Democrats will undoubtedly make it difficult to pass legislation in the years ahead.

Conservatives walked away with 121 seats, while Bloc Québécois got 32 seats, and the Green Party got three. The New Democratic Party secured 24 seats.

Mr Trudeau's victory also shows a marked drop in support for the progressive leader, who was swept into power in 2015 promising "real change" in the form of several progressive pledges.

In addition to his scandals, Mr Trudeau has faced criticism for his ability to follow through on those pledges including on the environment, a record that was undercut because he came out in support of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion project.

He also abandoned a federal electoral reform plan, which was a favourite of left-leaning voters.

Follow live updates

Please allow a moment for the liveblog to load

Key Points

• Justin Trudeau says voters have given his party a 'clear mandate' to govern
• Trudeau projected to keep power but lose majority
• Liberal Party performs poorly in popular vote
• Conservative Party makes some gains, but overall a disappointing night for Andrew Scheer
• Voters 'turned away' from polling stations in Ottawa

[21 October 2019 05:11 · Lucy Anna Gray]

After weeks of close polling, tonight's result is a victory for Trudeau and his party.

"It's not quite the same as 2015. It's not all owing to the leader," said Robert Bothwell, a professor of Canadian history and international relations at the University of Toronto. "Trudeau is prime minister because the rest of the party was able to pull itself together and prevail. While Trudeau certainly deserves credit for what has happened he's really going to have to demonstrate qualities that he hasn't yet shown."

Despite inevitable comparisons to his performance in 2015, these exit polls are still a win for Trudeau

.

"I'm surprised at how well Trudeau has done," said Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto. "I don't think anybody expected Trudeau to get a majority but they are not that far off."

[21 October 2019 15:53 · Lucy Anna Gray]

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the 2019 Canadian elections. We'll be bringing you all the latest polls, results and analysis of this cliffhanger race.

[21 October 2019 16:03 · Lucy Anna Gray]

Voting hours for today's election are expected to end at around 10pm EST (that's 2am Tuesday) in the UK. Times for polls across the country have been staggered to allow for different time zones. You can see a breakdown of them here. 

[21 October 2019 16:07 · Lucy Anna Gray]

Current polls aren't looking good for Justin Trudeau. An Ipsos poll on Sunday showed the Conservatives with a 2% lead over Trudeau's Liberals, while a poll average by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation showed the Liberals narrowly leading by 0.4%.

This would be the first time in 84 years that a first-term Canadian prime minister with a parliamentary majority lost a bid for re-election.

[21 October 2019 16:16 · Lucy Anna Gray]

For more details on those polls, read our full story here: 

[21 October 2019 16:25 · Lucy Anna Gray]

Here's Justin Trudeau with his family putting his ballot in the box in the Papineau area of Montreal, Quebec.

Credit: Reuters / Carlo Allegri 

[21 October 2019 16:51 · Lucy Anna Gray]

[21 October 2019 17:02 · Lucy Anna Gray]

Justin Trudeau has been marred with several scandals in recent months, most notably the prime minister having worn blackface on several occasions.

A video of Trudeau wearing blackface was released in September, shortly after a picture of him wearing dark makeup for an Arabian Nights party in 2001 emerged.

In response to the picture, the prime minister - who had launched his re-election campaign just a week before - said he should have known better, adding "I'm p***** off at myself, I'm disappointed in myself."

You can read our article from September for all the details: 

[21 October 2019 17:10 · Lucy Anna Gray]

After the evidence of Justin Trudeau wearing blackface emerged, the prime minister answered questions about the controversy, but failed to say how many times he had worn blackface.

[21 October 2019 17:15 · Lucy Anna Gray]

It's not just the blackface scandal that's had a damaging impact on Justin Trudeau. The 47-year-old prime minister has disappointed some voters with his failure to overhaul Canada's electoral system, as he promised in his 2015 campaign. He also broke his pledge to balance the 2019 budget.

The liberal leader also broke federal ethics rules in 2016 by taking a vacation to an island owned by philanthropist Aga Khan.