Polls have closed in Atlantic Canada but Canadians in the rest of the country are still voting, in an election that's expected to end with another minority government.
The results from Tuesday's election will not be made public until after the polls close in British Columbia at 7 p.m. local time, 10 p.m. ET.
Getting their vote in early, NDP Leader Jack Layton, Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May all cast their ballots Tuesday morning.
"I feel terrific," Layton told reporters. "It's nice to be back in my own house."
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper voted at a high school in his Calgary Southwest riding, while Liberal Leader Stephane Dion cast his ballot in Montreal, in his home riding of St-Laurent-Cartierville.
The election follows a 37-day campaign -- one of the shortest possible under Canadian law. Harper has asked Canadians for a stronger mandate to govern the country, after two and a half years of minority rule and a Parliament he called "dysfunctional."
Harper will need at least 155 seats to form a majority government. But the final weeks of the campaign saw him make missteps in Quebec, where he needed to strong gains in support.
That makes Ontario key to a strong Tory victory, with the province's 106 seats. While Toronto is largely expected to remain a Liberal stronghold, the Conservatives could win new seats in the city's outlaying regions.
It's unclear whether voter turnout has improved on previous years. An estimated 1.5 million Canadians cast their ballots in early voting.
Before Parliament was dissolved in on Sept. 7, the Conservatives had 127 seats of a possible 308. They held 41 ridings in Ontario, 11 in Quebec and 28 in Alberta -- every single seat in the province.
The Liberals had most of their seats in Ontario, where they held 51 of a possible 106 ridings. They were tied with the Tories in Quebec with 11 seats.
Layton's New Democrats had 12 seats in Ontario and 10 in British Columbia, where the party is traditionally seen as a strong opposition party to the Conservatives, rather than the Liberals.
"The NDP vote appears to be solid and if that's the case and they grow in various ridings that can help the Conservatives because it will weaken the Liberals and the Green vote," said CTV's Graham Richardson.
At dissolution the Bloc had 48 seats in Quebec out of a total 75.
