After a slow month for candidate nominations, the Liberals and Conservatives remain nearly tied in the race to fill their candidacies for upcoming elections.

As of Dec. 21, the federal Conservatives have the lead, with 170 confirmed candidates in future elections. The Liberals are approaching them with around 160, while the New Democrats have 29, the Greens have 21, the Bloc Québécois have five, and the People’s Party has one, according to an assessment by iPolitics.

When iPolitics last reported the state of party nominations on Nov. 30, the Conservatives had 162 confirmed candidates, the Liberals said they had more than 150, the NDP had 25, the Greens had 18, and the Bloc Québécois and People’s Party had the same as this month.

With just under 10 months to go until the general election, here are the standings by party.

The Conservatives

As well as adding eight candidates to their slate, on Dec. 3, the Conservatives retained a seat: Michael Barrett won the riding of Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes with 58 per cent of the vote. A byelection was held after the seat was left open due to the death of longtime Conservative MP Gord Brown.

The Conservatives have nominated candidates in three ridings where byelections are expected in February: Outremont, Burnaby South, and York—Simcoe.

Note: Figures are based on the party’s website and announcements posted on the party’s Twitter.

The Liberals

A Liberal spokesperson told iPolitics the party has nominated more than 150 of its 181 current MPs, a situation that’s changed little since last month. iPolitics has confirmed 146 candidates for the party by name. Since the last report, the Liberals have lost one member and nominated another: Brampton East MP Raj Grewal.

Only six of candidates aren’t incumbent MPs, but the party expects to lose one of the latter on Jan. 22, when MP Nicola Di Iorio has said he’s resigning his seat in Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel. Only the Conservatives have nominated a candidate in the riding so far.

The Liberals have named a candidate in Outremont, but not in York—Simcoe, where their candidate, Shaun Tanaka, lost to Peter Van Loan in 2015 by a 12 per cent margin. Burnaby South is also vacant, where they plan to run a candidate against NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.

Note: Figures are based on information provided by the party, announcements posted on its Twitter, and candidate nominations reported by iPolitics and other media.

The NDP

The NDP has added only four candidates since iPolitics looked at the slate in November.

Furthermore, the party suffered a monstrous defeat in the December byelection in Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, with candidate Michelle Taylor getting only three per cent of the vote. In the 2015 election, the party’s candidate in the same riding, Margaret Andrade, won eight per cent. Taylor was the Ontario New Democrats’ pick in the provincial election in June, where she came second with 19 per cent of the vote.

Three of the party’s candidates — Jessa McLean, Julia Sánchez, and Leader Jagmeet Singh — are in ridings where byelections are expected.

Note: Figures are based on information provided by the party and other reports in the media.

The Greens

The Green Party continues its strong push it Quebec, where it’s nominated 12 of 21 candidates. Elsewhere in Canada, the party has confirmed a candidate in Nova Scotia, another in Ontario, one in Alberta, three in Manitoba, and three in B.C. The party hasn’t added any names in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, or the territories.

Nor have they named candidates in Outremont or York—Simcoe. Leader Elizabeth May has also said she won’t be running a candidate in Burnaby South as an act of “leader’s courtesy” toward Singh.

Note: Figures are based on information provided by the party.

The Leftovers

Unchanged from a month ago, the Bloc Québécois has candidates in at least five of Quebec’s 77 ridings for the 2019 federal election, including four incumbents.

Independent MPs Darshan Singh Kang and Hunter Tootoo’s 2019 plans remain unclear, as do those of Erin Weir, who’s recognized in the House as a member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). Elections Canada does not recognize the CCF as a registered party, meaning Weir would have to re-register the party to run under its banner next year.

Maxime Bernier is still the only candidate for the People’s Party of Canada (PPC). On Dec. 21, Bernier announced in a newsletter that his party had finished setting up 338 electoral district associations — one for every riding in the country. The PPC will be officially recognized as a party once it endorses a candidate in an election. That could happen as early as February, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to call three byelections.

With files from Kirsten Smith.