Mark Carney triggered a five week election on Sunday, just nine days after being sworn in as Canada's 24th prime minister.
The Liberals selected Carney as leader on March 9, after a two-month race to replace former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
Without a seat in the House of Commons, the former central banker would not be able to participate in the chamber. This was seen as a potential motivator for him to trigger a snap vote rather than try to navigate an already unstable minority government from the sidelines.
Following Trudeau's resignation, the Liberals started to gain ground and close the gap of a nearly two year Conservative double-digit lead in public opinion polling.
University of Windsor political science professor, Lydia Miljan, says Carney was able to revive the Liberal brand and people are taking a second look.
"Across the country, people are obviously very concerned about tariffs, and the potential impact on recession, and jobs, but there are still varied concerns about the cost of living, as well as housing," Miljan said. "I think that those issues that we have been seized by for the last couple years are still going to be relevant."
She says she believes the story of this election will be east versus west and young versus old.
"If you're looking at western Canada, you still see very strong support for the Conservatives," Miljan said. "It's Ontario, Atlantic Canada, and even Quebec, where the Liberals have picked up steam, but the other thing is that the Conservatives still have support of 18 to 34-year-olds, where Liberal supporters tend to be older people over the age of 50."
Miljan says Donald Trump has already played a role in this election as most voters are concerned with the tariffs the U.S. president has imposed on Canada.
"As to which side is going to benefit from that, it's really tough to tell," she said. "[Trump] said he doesn't like Poilievre, he might do better with the Liberal guy. I don't think he's even mentioned Carney's name yet. Hardly a ringing endorsement, and I think anything Trump says is sort of in the eye of the beholder. Both sides are claiming victory over that comment."
MPs were scheduled to return to Parliament Monday, and instead, MPs and the candidates looking to unseat them are now off to the races, with 343 seats up for grabs after the last electoral district redistribution.
Canadians will make their choice at ballot box on April 28.
Advanced voting will take place over Easter weekend.
-With files from CTV News