Even though the NDP has had more trouble than other parties with some of its candidates, it managed to get on the ballot in each of Canada's 308 ridings by the Elections Canada cutoff date of Sept. 22. In fact, it was the only party to do that.
Parties will scramble to get any warm body on the ballot by that cutoff date because Elections Canada sets the national spending limits based on the number of voters in each riding that the party has fielded a candidate — by that cutoff date of Sept. 22.
So anyone dropping off after that date does not affect a party's spending limit.
So, no matter what happens after Sept. 22 to candidates who end up bailing for smoking dope, running around naked, or saying mean things on the Internet about others, here's the number of ridings each party is officially contesting on Oct. 14:
| Party | Contested Ridings |
| New Democratic Party | 308 |
| Conservative Party of Canada | 307 |
| Liberal Party of Canada | 307 |
| Green Party of Canada | 303 |
| Bloc Québécois | 75 |
| Independent | 67 |
| Christian Heritage Party of Canada | 59 |
| Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada | 59 |
| Libertarian Party of Canada | 26 |
| Communist Party of Canada | 24 |
| Canadian Action Party | 20 |
| Progressive Canadian Party | 10 |
| Marijuana Party | 8 |
| neorhino.ca | 7 |
| First Peoples National Party of Canada | 6 |
| Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada | 4 |
| No Affiliation | 4 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador First Party | 3 |
| People's Political Power Party of Canada | 2 |
| Western Block Party | 1 |
| Work Less Party | 1 |
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