Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced that Canadians will head to the polls October 19.
Governor General David Johnston has dissolved Parliament officially launching what will be one of the longest election campaigns in Canadian history.
The 11-week campaign will also prove to be costly for Canadian taxpayers.
Such an unusually long campaign would allow parties and their candidates to spend more than double the spending limits of $25 million and $100,000, respectively, that would have applied for a minimum 37-day campaign.
The announcement of the official start to the campaign comes on the heels of numbers released Friday from Statistics Canada showing five straight months of economic decline, meaning Canada is one-month shy of technical recession status.
Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair had already scheduled a campaign launch for the NDP for later in the day Sunday.
In Fort McMurray Kyle Harrietha is running for the Liberals, incumbent David Yurdiga is running again for the Conservatives and the NDP have yet to name a candidate.
