Photo: Stefan Labbé/BIV

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he'd step down as leader Monday night after losing his riding of Burnaby Central.

Canadians have elected a Liberal government in a rapid reversal of fortunes that sunk Conservative hopes to lead the country, soon leaving the NDP without a leader and shy of the 12 seats needed to form official party status.

The Canadian Press forecasted a Liberal victory at just before 7:15 p.m. PT Monday after the Liberal Party won enough seats through Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Ontario to form a government.

But as the night progressed, Mark Carney’s Liberals failed to pick up enough seats to form a majority.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney was elected in his Ottawa riding, one of 167 ridings held by the Liberals as of 11 p.m.

“I intend to work for all Canadians,” he told a crowd of supporters. “Let’s put an end to the division and anger of the past.”

In B.C., NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he planned to resign his post after losing his seat in Burnaby Central in a devastating defeat to Liberal challenger Wade Chang.

“We had really good candidates who lost tonight,” he said. “It’s tough. But we are only defeated if we stop fighting.”

Singh fought back tears in front of a crowd of supporters at a hotel in the city’s Metrotown neighbourhood. One of those in the crowd was David Reid, an NDP organizer for the riding.

“I’m scared,” said Reid. “We don’t want our leader to lose his seat.”

Much of the election campaign centred on who could best fend off attacks from U.S. administration — from a burgeoning trade war to U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to Canadian sovereignty.

An economist who previously led central banks in Canada and the United Kingdom, Carney positioned himself as a steady hand that could guide Canada through crisis.

At first, public opinion polls showed the approach appeared to resonate with voters, and early momentum swung in the Liberal’s favour.

But as the election neared, the Conservative campaign under Pierre Poilievre managed to close the gap and stemmed some of the worst predictions of a Carney-Liberal tide sweeping across the country.

By late Monday night, in a nearby Ottawa riding, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was still fighting for political survival in a tight race against Liberal challenger Bruce Fanjoy.

Across Canada, the polls seriously understated the Conservative and Bloc Quebecois share of the vote, and both parties stood in the way of a Liberal majority, said Richard Johnston, a University of British Columbia professor emeritus of political science.

“If the results stay as they are, meaning anything less than 172 [ridings], then the NDP at the moment hold the balance of power,” said Johnston.

“Not comfortably, but they do.”

In B.C., NDP bleed support to Liberals and Conservatives

Carney and Poilievre paid multiple visits to British Columbia throughout the campaign, courting voters of all stripes and attempting to peel away many NDP incumbent ridings.

In Kelowna, the two parties' candidates remained in a dead heat, with former Liberal MP Stephen Fuhr holding a slim 66-vote lead as of 11 p.m.

The Conservative push, meanwhile, appeared to pay off in several Metro Vancouver ridings that straddle both urban and rural neighbourhoods. Ridings spanning Langley, Maple Ridge and Abbotsford were all were in blue hands late Monday.

In Richmond, where both candidates held large rallies, Conservative candidate Chak Au led Liberal incumbent Wilson Miao in Richmond Centre—Marpole.

Liberal incumbent Parm Bains, meanwhile, holds a lead of fewer than a thousand votes in the neighbouring riding of Richmond East—Steveston.

Despite replacing their candidate within the final weeks of the campaign, the Conservatives were also narrowly ahead in a three-way race in the former NDP stronghold of New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville.

Like the Greater Toronto Area, the Liberals failed to break through across Metro Vancouver in a way that would have easily ensured a Liberal majority.

Liberal candidates failed to capture all the ridings in the City of Vancouver, despite former mayor Gregor Robertson reclaiming Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby.

NDP leads in two Vancouver ridings

As the night went on, longtime Vancouver Kingsway candidate Don Davis remained locked in a very tight race with Liberal Amy Gill.

If Davies pulls off a win, he will join Jenny Kwan in the diminished NDP caucus after she was re-elected in her riding of Vancouver East.

Earlier in the day, Vancouver East resident Chloë Richardson said she voted for Kwan with the hopes the NDP would put more attention on climate change and hold a Liberal government to account as it attempts to fend off threats from the United States.

“I don’t like the direction America is going in,” said the first-time voter, originally from the United Kingdom. “It’s a scary time.”

Joy Schellenberg, who works in social services, said she likes the pressure the NDP has put on the previous Liberal government to expand child and health care. At the same time, she said she didn’t like the last eight years of Liberal government.

“If I didn’t vote for the NDP, I probably would have voted Poilievre,” Schellengberg said.

On Vancouver Island, Conservative candidates indeed led or flipped three ridings that once belonged to the NDP. That included Conservative insurgent Aaron Gunn, who was leading with nearly 40 per cent of the vote by 11 p.m.

At the other end of the island (and political spectrum), Green co-leader Elizabeth May once again re-took her seat of Saanich—Gulf Islands after a strong challenge from Liberal and Conservative challengers. She remains the sole elected member of her party.

NDP significantly weakened

Outside of B.C., the NDP picked up four seats: one seat on the island of Montreal, one seat in Winnipeg, one seat in Edmonton and the only seat in Nunavut.

The party was projected to win seven seats as of 11 p.m. PT, five shy from the 12 required for official party status.

Losing that status means the NDP will be cut off from public election financing. They will also lose access to parliamentary resources to help them conduct policy research, and will no longer have guaranteed speaking time in the House of Commons.

“Politically, it’s not good. It limits them in time they’re allowed to speak,” said Alexandre Rivard, an assistant professor at SFU’s School of Public Policy.

“That’s going to limit your ability to influence legislation.”