Canada votes: Polls open as Trudeau faces election battle

Ruling Liberals and rival Conservatives are in a tight race as Canadians head to the polls to elect next government.

Election Day is officially under way in Canada, as voters choose the country’s next parliament after a short campaign that saw Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals in a neck-and-neck fight against the opposition Conservative Party.

The first polls opened in Newfoundland, on Canada’s east coast, at 8:30am local time (11:00 GMT) on Monday. More than 27 million people are eligible to cast their ballots, according to Elections Canada, which administers the vote.

A day earlier, Trudeau and Conservative leader Erin O’Toole made their final pitches to Canadians.