B.C. Election 2026 — Day 4 Brief

Day 4 in 30 seconds

David Eby shifted the NDP campaign to housing: he proposed a new tax on completed condos left unsold and empty for more than a year, starting at 2% and rising one point for each additional year, while also proposing higher speculation and vacancy tax rates. [3]
Candidate placement accelerated. CentreBC leader Elenore Sturko announced she will run in Surrey South; Conservatives were reported to have named White Rock Mayor Megan Knight in the same riding and, late Friday, Caroline Elliott in West Vancouver-Capilano with incumbent Lynne Block shifting to North Vancouver-Seymour. [5][6][7]
No new party-leadership change or MLA floor-crossing was confirmed on Day 4. The Greens added three candidates and the NDP added Andrew Mercier, while Elections BC's latest accepted-nomination report still lagged far behind public party announcements. [2][8][9]

What changed on Day 4

What changed on Day 4
AREA	CONFIRMED / REPORTED DEVELOPMENT
NDP policy	David Eby proposed a tax on completed condos left unsold and empty for more than one year: 2% initially, increasing by one percentage point for each additional year. He also proposed raising the speculation and vacancy tax to 2% for domestic owners and 5% for foreign owners. Eby's estimate that the measure could unlock about 5,000 condos is a campaign claim. [3]
Conservatives	Party-announced / reported: Late Day 4 reporting said former leadership candidate Caroline Elliott was named in West Vancouver-Capilano and incumbent Lynne Block shifted to North Vancouver-Seymour. Black Press separately reported White Rock Mayor Megan Knight as the Conservative candidate in Surrey South. These were not yet on the latest Elections BC accepted-nomination report checked. [2][5][6]
CentreBC	Party announcement: Leader Elenore Sturko announced on September 25 that she will run in Surrey South, returning to the riding she first won in a 2022 by-election and where she says she lives. [7]
BC Greens	The Greens announced Maureen Curran in New Westminster-Coquitlam, Nick Gottlieb in Skeena and Francis Racy in North Coast-Haida Gwaii. The party's own site carried current profiles for Gottlieb and Racy by close of day. [8]
NDP candidates	The NDP announced former MLA and cabinet minister Andrew Mercier as its candidate in Langley-Willowbrook. This is a party-level candidacy until Elections BC accepts the formal nomination. [2][9]
OneBC	No Day 4 leadership change or MLA switch was identified in the sources reviewed. OneBC's current published candidate page continued to list Dallas Brodie, Brent Chapman, Warren Hamm and Jim McMurtry. [10]
Election admin.	Elections BC's latest candidate PDF available at the close of this brief is timestamped September 24 at 11:00:08 p.m. and lists one accepted nomination: Spencer Chandra Herbert (BC NDP, Vancouver-West End). Elections BC explicitly says its list excludes public declarations until nomination paperwork is complete and accepted. [2]

Campaign framing at close of Day 4

NDP - The day's principal policy announcement moved to housing supply and vacancy, with Eby proposing new costs for developers holding completed unsold units and higher speculation and vacancy tax rates. [3]

BC Conservatives - The clearest Day 4 activity was candidate build-out, including a late North Shore reshuffle and the reported recruitment of White Rock's mayor in Surrey South. No new partywide policy package was identified in the reliable sources reviewed by close of day. [5][6]

BC Greens - The party added Maureen Curran, Nick Gottlieb and Francis Racy to its announced slate on Day 4. [8]

CentreBC - Day 4 put leader Elenore Sturko into Surrey South, creating a direct candidate-level contest with OneBC incumbent Brent Chapman and the Conservative candidacy reported for Megan Knight. This describes the announced field only; it is not an assessment of electoral prospects. [6][7][10]

OneBC - No comparable Day 4 caucus or leadership change was confirmed. Its published slate remained four candidates at the time checked, including Brent Chapman in Surrey South. [10]

Election clock

Election clock
DATE	MILESTONE
OCT 1	Register or update voter information by this date to ensure a Where to Vote card is mailed. [1]
OCT 3	Provincial candidate nominations close at 1:00 p.m. Pacific. [1]
OCT 16-21	Provincial advance voting. [1]
OCT 17	General local elections across B.C. - a separate electoral event with separate voting administration. [11]
OCT 24	Final Voting Day for the provincial election. [1]

Polling: no new Day 4 release

No new province-wide voting-intention poll was identified on September 25. The latest remains the Angus Reid Institute release from September 24: BC Conservatives 43%, NDP 35%, BC Greens 12% among 682 decided and leaning respondents. The underlying online survey ran September 22-24 among 801 B.C. adults; 20% were undecided overall. [4]

Method caution: ARI says the sample was weighted to demographic benchmarks. Because it is an online panel, the survey does not have a formal probability-sample margin of error; ARI notes that a probability sample of 801 would be about +/-3.5 points, 19 times out of 20. Its fieldwork overlaps the writ and rapid party realignment, so it is not a measurement of voter reaction to Day 4 developments. [4]

Provincial-local election overlap

Day 4 produced a clear crossover: the City of White Rock lists incumbent mayor Megan Knight as a candidate for mayor on October 17, while Black Press reported on September 25 that Knight had also been named the BC Conservative candidate in Surrey South for the provincial election on October 24. Provincial advance voting runs October 16-21, placing local General Voting Day inside the provincial advance-voting period. Provincial and local voting remain separately administered. [1][6][11][12]

What to watch on Day 5

Whether Elections BC's accepted-candidate list begins catching up with the rapid party announcements made September 24-25.
Further Conservative candidate placement following the late West Vancouver-Capilano / North Vancouver-Seymour reshuffle.
Whether CentreBC or OneBC adds substantially to their announced slates before the October 3 nomination deadline.
Any new poll fielded wholly after the first four campaign days, and any new partywide policy announcements.

Scope note: This is a factual public-source monitoring brief. It does not endorse, oppose, rank, score, predict, or recommend any party, leader, candidate, or electoral choice. Party-announced candidates are distinguished from Elections BC-accepted nominations where relevant.

Sources

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