The 2024 U.S. presidential election is here, and Canadians might be wondering how to watch tonight's high-stakes showdown between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on this side of the border.
Luckily, there are several ways to catch all the U.S. election coverage live, for free, right from Canada — even if you don't have a cable TV subscription.
Here are all the major Canadian broadcasters with election coverage tonight, where you can watch them for free, and everything else you need to know to keep up with the latest election results and live updates.
CBC News
CBC News will have election coverage throughout the day, with its America Votes: Power & Politics program starting at 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT) with David Cochrane live from Washington, D.C. At 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT), chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault and The National senior host Ian Hanomansing will take over and, alongside experts, will start breaking down results as they come in.
Canadians can stream this coverage for free on CBC Gem (with a free account), YouTube and TikTok.
CTV News
CTV News kicks off its election coverage at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT), featuring live analysis hosted by Vassy Kapelos and a panel of Canadian political experts. Reporters will be stationed at campaign headquarters and key battleground states to bring you the latest updates through a Canadian lens.
You can stream this coverage for free on CTV's website, which will broadcast live results and analysis throughout the evening.
Global News
For a distinctly Canadian take, Global News' special broadcast America Votes starts at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT), hosted by Dawna Friesen live from Washington, D.C.
The coverage will stream for free on the Global website, app and YouTube channel as well as platforms like Pluto TV and Prime Video. Global's team will also report from the Harris and Trump campaign sites and major battleground states.
Pluto TV
For those looking to sample U.S. broadcasts, the ad-supported streaming platform Pluto TV lets Canadians watch live streams of U.S. news channels such as CBS, CNN, Bloomberg and Reuters with a free account.
When will election results be announced?
Results are expected to trickle in throughout the night as polls close, but due to high volumes of mail-in voting, a definitive winner might not be declared until later this week — especially in such a tight race.
In 2020, a year with record-high mail-in votes, President Joe Biden wasn't declared the winner until four days after Election Day, so we may see something similar this year.
When do polls close?
The earliest polls close at 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT), with the final polls in far-west states like Hawaii and Alaska closing at 1 a.m. ET (10 p.m. PT).
