A Cryptocurrency Preview of the Canadian Election
Canada's leading candidates for prime minister are not focusing their election campaigns on cryptocurrency policy, although both have raised the topic before.
Author: Nikhilesh De | Edited by Benjamin Schiller , April 23, 2025, 8:25 PM
Next week, Canada holds an election in which voters will consider a variety of issues — the economy, housing affordability, trade relations with the United States — as they cast ballots for representatives who will in turn choose the country's new prime minister.
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Narrative
Cryptocurrency is not a priority issue in Canada's elections this year. None of the leading candidates for prime minister are focusing on digital assets in their campaigns, but here's how they've discussed the topic in the past.
Why does this matter?
Canada has become known for a number of major cryptocurrency exchange collapses in recent years, leading to a concerted effort by provincial regulators to impose restrictions on the digital asset sector. While platforms like Coinbase have called for a Canadian government task force or Bitcoin reserve, leading candidates for prime minister appear to be focused on other issues at the moment (particularly relations with the U.S., trade, housing, and the economy).
Let's break this down
When Canadians go to the polls next Monday, they will choose their representative in Parliament. The party that wins the most seats will form the new government, and its leader will become the new prime minister.
The Conservative Party and its leader Pierre Poilievre maintained a steady lead in the polls until late January 2025, but the Liberal Party experienced a significant boost in popularity following the imposition of tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump (on Canada and other countries). The Liberal Party, now led by Mark Carney, has held a significant lead ever since, according to polls and Polymarket data. Carney replaced former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as Liberal Party leader last month.
Pierre Poilievre
Poilievre is a longtime Bitcoin and blockchain advocate who has led the Conservative Party since September 2022. He owns shares of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). In 2022, he pledged to make Canada “the blockchain and cryptocurrency capital of the world” during a campaign speech (a phrase Trump would later use in his 2024 campaign).
“I want to take control of money back from the politicians and bankers to the people,” he said. “We need to give citizens the freedom to choose other currencies. If the government is going to abuse our money, we should have the right to choose better alternatives.”
He even bought shawarma with bitcoin during his Conservative Party leadership campaign, discussing the digital asset in a 30-minute interview with a restaurant owner.
He supported the protest of Canadian truckers, who in early 2022 called themselves the “Freedom Convoy” and opposed mandatory vaccinations for all drivers crossing the U.S.-Canada border. At the time, the Canadian government tried to freeze financial support for the protesters, including sanctions against cryptocurrency wallets linked to truckers.
While Poilievre did not appear to specifically link Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies to drivers who may lose access to banking services, he did call Bitcoin “the most important asset you can own.”
Poilievre has also spoken out against the Bank of Canada’s research into a central bank digital currency, arguing that it could violate privacy rights or allow lawmakers to target benefits to specific groups. Last year, he backed a bill that would have banned a Canadian CBDC entirely (echoing the moves by U.S. Republicans who have done the same here).
Canadian magazine Maclean's reported that while Poilievre has spoken less about cryptocurrencies in recent times, the Conservative Party as a whole remains supportive of the industry, citing various members of Parliament who have introduced bills or discussed cryptocurrencies.
Poilievre has appeared to be less vocal about cryptocurrency since FTX's dramatic collapse in 2022, which his political opponents have used to criticize his previous support for digital assets. He also
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