Following former NDP leader Jagmeet Singh's resignation, British Columbia MP Don Davies was appointed as the interim leader in May. A new leader will be chosen by the end of March 2026.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
The New Democratic Party will choose its new leader in March, though that person will face an uphill battle after the last election decimated the NDP caucus to only seven MPs.
The leadership race is set to officially begin in September, NDP national director Lucy Watson said in a statement Thursday. The leader will be chosen no later than March 29, 2026, and the results will be announced on that day at the party’s convention in Winnipeg.
The entry fee for the race will be $100,000, Ms. Watson said, noting that while it’s “significantly lower than other parties,” it will allow candidates to demonstrate their organizational and fundraising capacity. The 2017 NDP leadership race had an entry fee of $30,000, and some grassroots party members felt it should continue to be low.
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More rules will be finalized over the next few days, Ms. Watson added, and a copy of the official rules will be posted on the party’s website before the race officially starts.
“I look forward to the dynamic exchange between candidates and members about the future of our party and how we will continue to deliver relief for working Canadians,” she said.
The party said in a statement that there will be strong regulations to govern the role of third parties, in light of the issue of foreign interference.
The leadership race will provide a chance for renewal after the worst election result in the party’s history. Seventeen incumbents lost their seats, including then-leader Jagmeet Singh, who subsequently resigned on election night.
British Columbia MP Don Davies was appointed as the interim leader in May. Though three NDP MPs said they were not properly consulted on the federal council’s decision, Mr. Davies’s position was ratified by the caucus in June.
Activist Yves Engler has said he is running. Other names that have been floated for the race include Edmonton MP Heather McPherson, Winnipeg MP Leah Gazan, activist Avi Lewis, former MP Matthew Green, and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada president Rob Ashton.
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Jordan Leichnitz, who was deputy chief of staff to former NDP leader Thomas Mulcair, said the entry fee would be raised by the prospective leadership candidates from party members and those they sign up. The fee is about showing that they have the capacity to raise that kind of money, she said.
“The NDP does need to become more competitive on fundraising if it wants to go toe-to-toe with the Liberals and the Conservatives in campaigns,” she said in an interview.
The entry fee for the 2025 Liberal leadership race, won by Mark Carney, was $350,000. For the 2022 Conservative party leadership race, won by Pierre Poilievre, it was $200,000; candidates also had to pay a $100,000 fee that was refunded if they complied with all the rules.
One of the first challenges for the potential leadership candidates will be speaking to members across the country and generating some enthusiasm after the party’s disappointing election result, Ms. Leichnitz said.
“I think that there’s a lot of introspection about how the party has ended up at this place, and some of those answers [are] going to be found in riding associations and with volunteers across the country who knocked on the doors – whether their candidates won or lost,” she said, adding the party will also be doing that work.
Earlier this week, the party launched a review of the 2025 campaign, which will be facilitated by Ottawa-area lawyer and former NDP candidate Emilie Taman.