Canada votes in pivotal election transformed by Trump

Canadians cast their ballots in a pivotal election that has been completely transformed by US President Donald Trump.

The Conservatives appeared certain to win any contest by a landslide at the start of the year, until Trump's tariffs and barbs about making Canada the "51st state" upended the country's politics and injected fresh life into Mark Carney's Liberal Party.

The final polls suggest the Liberals are slightly ahead, although the race has tightened in the past week and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre says his party can win.

The 36-day campaign ended on a sombre note as party leaders responded to those killed in Vancouver.

Poilievre, meanwhile, added a campaign stop in Mississauga, a Toronto suburb, to speak with members of the Filipino community there.

And with the election shaping up as a race between the Conservatives and the Liberals, smaller parties have struggled to gain traction.

The left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP), led by Jagmeet Singh, faces the prospect of losing a number of seats as it trails behind the separatist Bloc Québécois, which runs candidates only in the French-speaking province of Quebec.