OTTAWA, ON--(Marketwired - October 19, 2015) - More than 850,000 students under the voting age cast ballots in Student Vote 2015 from 6,000 elementary and secondary schools across the country.

After learning about the democratic process, researching the candidates and party platforms, and debating Canada's future, students cast their ballots for the official candidates running in their local riding.

As of 1:00pm ET today, more than 850,000 votes were reported from over 6,000 schools representing 337 federal ridings.

The Liberals, led by Justin Trudeau, took 37.5% of the popular vote and won 223 seats. Trudeau, however, was defeated in his riding of Papineau.

The Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper, will form the official opposition with 26.0% of the popular vote and 69 seats. Harper won his seat in Calgary Heritage.

The NDP, led by Thomas Mulcair, took nearly 19.8% of the popular vote and won 40 seats. Mulcair won his seat in Outremont.

Elizabeth May and the Green Party received 12.0% of the popular vote and won 4 seats. May won her Saanich-Gulf Islands seat.

The Bloc Québécois, led by Gilles Duceppe, won 1 seat in Quebec.

"It is astounding that more than 850,000 young Canadians took part in this year's Student Vote from nearly every riding in the country," says Taylor Gunn, President and CEO of CIVIX Canada. "We have nearly doubled the number of schools that took part in the last federal election. These numbers are a reflection of the incredible effort put forth by Canadian educators to ensure that, by using Student Vote in their classrooms, they are building their students into citizens."

VIEW COMPLETE RESULTS HERE: http://www.studentvote.ca/results

Provincial Breakdown:

Ontario - 352,397 participating students elected 87 Liberal, 23 Conservative and 11 NDP candidates.

British Columbia - 164,019 participating students elected 29 Liberal, 7 NDP, 3 Conservative and 3 Green candidates.

Alberta - 155,823 participating students elected 22 Conservative, 11 Liberal and 1 NDP candidates.

Quebec - 47,321 participating students elected 51 Liberal, 17 NDP, 7 Conservative, 1 Bloc Québécois and 1 Green candidates.

Saskatchewan - 31,473 participating students elected 9 Conservative, 3 Liberal and 2 NDP candidates.

Manitoba - 31,151 participating students elected 8 Liberal, 5 Conservative and 1 NDP candidate.

Nova Scotia - 29,783 participating students elected 11 Liberal candidates.

New Brunswick - 24,106 participating students elected 9 Liberal and 1 NDP candidates.

Newfoundland and Labrador - 8,812 participating students elected 7 Liberal candidates.

Prince Edward Island - 6,524 participating students elected 4 Liberal candidates.

Northwest Territories - 1,523 participating students elected 1 Liberal candidate.

Yukon - 1,159 participating students elected 1 Liberal candidate.

Nunavut - 1,155 participating students elected 1 Liberal candidate.

Background:

CIVIX is a national civic education charity building the skills and habits of citizenship among young Canadians. Student Vote is the flagship program of CIVIX.

CIVIX has partnered with Elections Canada to provide the Student Vote program free to schools in conjunction with the 2015 federal election.

RELATED LINKS:
www.studentvote.ca
www.civix.ca