Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is projected to lose his Ottawa-area seat to Liberal challenger Bruce Fanjoy, making him the second federal leader to be rejected by voters in Monday’s election.

With 264 out of 266 polls reporting early Tuesday, Mr. Fanjoy won 42,374 votes, or 50.6 per cent, to Mr. Poilievre’s 38,581 votes, or 46.1 per cent.

Elections Canada paused the counting of special ballots early Tuesday with a handful of ridings still too close to call, including Mr. Poilievre’s. Counting was to resume at 9:30 a.m.

Mr. Poilievre had previously won seven times in the riding of Carleton or predecessor ridings in the region. The 45-year-old won with 52 per cent of the vote in 2021 and 46 per cent in 2019.

Ballot counting in the riding was slowed by a protest against the first-past-the-post electoral system that saw 85 activists run in the riding, making the ballot 91 names long.

The NDP’s Jagmeet Singh conceded his riding in British Columbia and resigned as leader of the party.

As The Globe and Mail reported last week, Conservative Party headquarters had for the past two weeks been sending workers into Mr. Poilievre’s riding, including experienced campaigners who would normally be assigned to tight races across the country.

Turnout was expected to be high in the riding, with nearly half of eligible voters already casting their votes over the Easter weekend in advance polls, the highest in the country.

Mr. Poilievre told his supporters early Tuesday morning that he intended to stay on as party leader.

“It will be an honour to continue to fight for you,” he said.

Mr. Fanjoy declared victory in a posting on social media platform X.

With files from The Canadian Press