Photo: The Canadian Press

Elections Canada signage is seen at an advance polling location. (Laura Proctor / The Canadian Press)

Nearly 70 per cent of Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola voters cast a ballot in the 45th federal election, which didn’t return a record voter turnout nationally despite robust advanced poll numbers and a threat to Canada's sovereignty from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Early results for the riding show 62,096 of 89,245 registered electors (69.58 per cent) voted in Monday’s election in the reconfigured Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola riding. The numbers do not include those who registered to vote on election day.

The total is a 3.5-point increase from the last election in 2021, which saw about 66 per cent of voters in Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo turn out to vote.

Numbers were even higher in the Kamloops-Shuswap-Central Rockies riding, which includes eastern Kamloops, Salmon Arm, Revelstoke and Golden. Turnout was 73.22 per cent, with 67,496 of 92,185 registered voters casting ballots.

That represents a significant jump. Under its former name, North Okanagan-Shuswap, the riding recorded voter turnout a shade under 60 per cent in 2021.

Two thirds voted

Robert Hanlon, Thompson River University political science professor, told Castanet Kamloops he doesn't think this year's voter turnout should be compared to those in past elections considering the redrawn riding.

“We might have to wait for another election cycle to get a clear picture on voter turnout increases or decreases,” Hanlon said.

However, he noted the national voter turnout is the highest recorded in 32 years.

Elections Canada said more than 67 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot across Canada in the federal election — more than 19.2 million people.

“We haven't had that high of a national turnout since 1993,” Hanlon said.

“Clearly there's been a big uptick, and that's clearly to do with the implications of Trump and the kind of galvanization of people around their different party bases for this election, so it's quite interesting.”

Lots going on

Hanlon said there were similar economic and sovereignty issues at play in the Canadian political landscape to trade, tariffs and annexation in the form of Quebec separatism and a recently negotiated free trade deal with the U.S.

“The political atmosphere in the early 90s is very different than it is today, but you can see when there's big questions of unity around the country and sovereignty itself, people head to the polls,” Hanlon said, adding crises tend to be very politically motivating.

When it comes to the lower total numbers in the Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola riding given the crisis issues at play, Hanlon said the area is generally considered a Conservative stronghold which may generate voter apathy.

“Having ridings that are so consistently [voting] the same way might create kind of a bit more less incentive for other voters to head to the polls," he said.

While the 2025 election was widely expected to see increased turnout, it did not surpass the record set nationally in 1958, when 79.4 per cent of eligible electors voted.

But turnout was higher than in the last federal election, when 62.6 per cent of eligible voters headed to the polls.

With votes still being counted, voter turnout still has some room to climb.