Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press

Veterans, diplomats, members of the Armed Forces and political leaders gathered Thursday at events across Canada commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe.

"Nearly every family knows somebody who suffered from the effect of war," said Fraser McKee, a 100-year-old veteran who helped to lay a wreath at the Toronto ceremony.

"This is to remember people that will have to go to war, as well as remembering those that went and didn’t come back."

After the Second World War came to a close, Canada pulled itself away from Great Britain and planted itself firmly within a North American political and economic compact that generated prosperity for much of the western world for decades.

But as the world marks 80 years since the end of the war in Europe, an increasingly unstable geopolitical climate — and an administration in Washington bent on fighting a trade war with much of the world — has Canada looking back to the continent as a way to preserve peace and prosperity.

King Charles will visit Ottawa to deliver the speech from the throne at the end of this month in a show of support for Canadian sovereignty, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday.

The news came in his first press conference since leading the Liberals to a fourth straight mandate in Monday's election, where he laid out the priorities for his first few months, promising to "embark on the biggest transformation of our economy since the end of the Second World War." 

A group trying to make a case for electoral reform by creating very long ballots is declaring victory in this week's election — even as critics accuse it of indulging in stunts that undermine democracy.

"It's been a success," said Mark Moutter, one of dozens of protest candidates who ran in the Ottawa riding of Carleton.

"I've never seen people looking more optimistically at electoral reform, ever."

Prime Minister Mark Carney promised to unite the country and govern for all after Canadians handed the Liberals a fourth consecutive mandate in Monday's federal election.

"Who is ready," he shouted to cheers and applause and people chanting his name in a crowded hockey arena in Ottawa in the wee hours of the morning. "Who is ready? Who is ready to stand up for Canada with me? And who is ready to build Canada strong?"

Jagmeet Singh says he will step down as the leader of the NDP as soon as a new interim leader is chosen.

Singh conceded defeat in his British Columbia riding of Burnaby Central and the party is at risk of losing official party status.

With the NDP at risk of losing official party status — and after losing his own riding — Singh said he'd be stepping down as leader once the party selects an interim replacement.

"We may lose sometimes and those losses hurt," Singh said, fighting emotion as he stood beside his wife on a stage in Burnaby, B.C.

The Canadian Press decision desk is projecting a Liberal government following a short, intense and heated federal election campaign.

As of 10:22 p.m. EDT, the Liberals had received 50 per cent of the popular vote while the Tories held 39 per cent.

Preliminary results for 43 ridings show the Liberals taking 28 seats and the Conservatives holding 21, with the Bloc Québécois holding four seats.

The last polls in British Columbia and Yukon closed at 10 p.m. EDT, following the Prairies and the other territories half an hour earlier.

Former prime minister Jean Chrétien predicted the Liberals will win a majority government on Monday, as party leaders blitzed key ridings in Ontario and British Columbia hoping to swing last minute votes their way.

At a rally for Ottawa Centre Liberal incumbent Yasir Naqvi, Chrétien said he expects "to celebrate the majority government of the Liberal party" after polls close Monday night.

"Monday is going to be a Liberal sunshine," he said, drawing cheers.

Federal party leaders hit the hustings Friday with election day fast approaching, as Mark Carney of the Liberals focused on U.S. tariff threats in a steel town and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre campaigned on his anti-crime platform in Saskatoon.

Canadians cast ballots to choose their next government on Monday.

The Liberals are widely seen to be leading in the polls, with the Conservatives in second place and the Bloc Québécois, NDP and Greens trailing behind.

Affordability measures dominated the promises on the federal election trail on Saturday, with the NDP focused on capping the price of some food items and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre offering more tax writeoffs to some trades workers.

The first week of the federal election drew to a close with both Liberal Leader Mark Carney and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh paying a visit to the national capital.