The CBC and CTV are both projecting that Canada’s Liberal party will win the national election, and that Justin Trudeau will be the new prime minister.

Per the Guardian, here is how the vote has approximately broken down:

  • Liberals: 57.9% of the vote
  • Conservatives: 19.9%
  • NDP: 17.5%

The New York Times characterizes Trudeau’s win as an “upset.” For further context, we turn to senior Canadian correspondent at The Hairpin, Haley Mlotek:

Today is a federal election and my first time voting as an ex-pat. Canadians vote for candidates in their electoral district (called a “riding”), as per the regulations of Canada’s electoral system; there are currently twenty-three registered political parties candidates can be affiliated with, but the predominant parties to watch are the Conservatives, the Liberals, and the National Democratic Party (known as the NDP), as well as, to a slightly lesser extent, the Green Party and the Bloc Quebecois. Candidates who win a riding represent that district as a Member of Parliament (known as MPs), and the party with the most winning candidates becomes the ruling government and their leader the Prime Minister. The risk of splitting the vote is high, and real, particularly between the two left-leaning parties, the Liberals and the NDP. As voters, we can vote for the candidate we think would be best for our neighbourhoods, or we can vote for the candidate who belongs to the party we want to become the ruling government, or we can hope for a candidate who fulfills both those requirements. It is…confusing!

“I’m glad I voted for Drake, my country’s new prime minister,” Mlotek tells Gawker.

It is not yet clear whether the Liberal party will have the numbers to win a majority.

Photo credit: AP Images. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.