“With the numbers we do know, it looks like women have surpassed the 50 per cent seat number,” Speers said. “That’s something to really be celebrated for all of us in Canada.”

It’s a significant gain since the last B.C. election when women made up 42 per cent of elected candidates, and it makes B.C. the first province to reach gender parity in its legislature, with Quebec following closely behind. In comparison, just over 30 per cent of the members of the federal Parliament are women, according to Statistics Canada. Following a byelection in 2021, the Northwest Territories was the first territory in Canada to elect majority women MLAs.