Students in Delta would have sent a Conservative to represent them in Ottawa had they been able to vote in last month's federal election.
More than 4,400 students across the riding participated in Student Vote Canada 2025, an experiential civic literacy program by Civix Canada in collaboration with Elections Canada that provides students under the voting age with the opportunity to learn about democracy, government and the electoral process
Designed to introduce students to politics and foster a habit of democratic participation, the program gives students the opportunity to explore the parties and platforms, debate the issues, and cast ballots in a parallel election for the actual candidates running in their local electoral districts, according to a Civix press release.
As of Tuesday, May 13, 916,983 valid votes (and 32,378 rejected ballots) were reported from 6,300 schools across Canada, with results from all 343 electoral districts.
Twenty-four Delta elementary and secondary schools took part in Student Vote Canada 2025, though no data is available from two of them (Chalmers and Sunshine Hills elementaries). Results were received from 13 of the Delta School District's 24 elementary schools (Cliff Drive, Cougar Canyon, Devon Gardens, English Bluff, Gibson, Gray, Hawthorne, Heath, Holly, Neilson Grove, Pebble Hill Traditional, Richardson and South Park) as well as three of the seven secondary schools (Delview, Seaquam and South Delta).
Plus, ballots were counted at four independent schools (Boundary Bay Montessori, Delta Christian School, Immaculate Conception Elementary and Southpointe Academy) and the lone Francophone school in Delta (École du Bois-Joli).
The student results were quite different from how adults in the riding voted on election night.
Validated results from Elections Canada show Liberal Jill McKnight won Delta's seat in Parliament with 51.8 per cent of the vote, beating Conservative Jessy Sahota, who took 43.2 per cent of the vote. McKnight received 18.26 per cent more votes than Sahota (32,802 to his 27,314).
NDP candidate Jason McCormick came in third with 4.4 per cent of the vote (2,787), while Natasa Sirotic with the People's Party of Canada received 0.6 per cent (390).
However, just over 48 per cent of participating youth cast their ballot for Sahota, compared to 31.88 per cent who favoured McKnight, giving the Conservative 40.38 per cent more votes than the Liberal candidate — more than double the margin of the real election.
Both the NDP and PPC candidates fared better in the student vote than in the actual election, securing 15.59 per cent and 4.53 per cent of the vote, respectively.
All four candidates' share of the vote was fairly consistent whether from elementary or high school students, however a higher percentage of students at North Delta schools voted Conservative (51.7 per cent) versus their South Delta counterparts (43.07 per cent).
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The student vote in Delta more or less echoed the results in B.C.'s other 42 ridings.
Including Delta, 36.27 per cent of the student vote province-wide went to the Conservatives, awarding them 29 seats. Youth gave the Liberals nine seats and 28 per cent of the popular vote, while the NDP won four seats and 18 per cent of the vote, and the Green Party won one seat and 11 per cent of the vote. The People's Party did not win any seats, and came away with 3.34 per cent of the popular vote.
In all, 155,607 students at 907 B.C. schools took part in Student Vote Canada 2025.
Nationally, students elected a minority Conservative government, with the Liberal Party forming the official Opposition.
The Conservative Party won 163 seats and 36.3 per cent of the popular vote, with Leader Pierre Poilievre winning his seat in Carleton, Ontario. (Poilievre lost his seat in the actual election, and is now running in a by-election in the Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot after re-elected MP Damien Kurek announced May 2 that he would resign his seat.)
The Liberal Party won 147 seats and 31.8 per cent of the popular vote, with Mark Carney winning his riding of Nepean, Ontario.
The Bloc Québécois won 18 seats and 2.2 per cent of the popular vote, with Yves-François Blanchet winning the race in Beloeil-Chambly.
The NDP won 13 seats and 14.5 per cent of the popular vote as Jagmeet Singh lost in the riding of Burnaby South.
The Green Party won two seats and 7.4 per cent of the popular vote. Co-leader Jonathan Pedneault lost in the riding of Outremont, Quebec, while co-leader Elizabeth May won in Saanich-Gulf Islands.
The People's Party get 3.51 per cent of the vote but did not win any seats, and leader Maxime Bernier lost his race in the Quebec riding of Beauce.
Complete Student Vote Canada 2025 results can be found at studentvote.ca/results/canada2025.
In the actual federal election, the Liberal Party won 169 seats, forming a minority government, and 43.7 per cent of the popular vote; while the Conservatives won 144 seats to form the official Opposition and 41.3 per cent of the vote.
The Bloc Québécois won 22 seats (6.3 per cent of the popular vote), NDP seven (6.3 per cent) and Greens one (1.2 per cent). The PPC did not win any seats and received 0.7 per cent of the vote.
Like in the student election, Carney, Blanchet and May all won their races, while Singh, Pedneault and Bernier all lost.
