How this works
BC Vote Compass compares your answers to what each party has said in public. When a party hasn’t addressed a question, we use an AI estimate based on what it has said, and we label it clearly.
Which parties are compared
This compass compares the BC NDP, the Conservative Party of BC and the BC Greens: the three parties invited to the televised leaders’ debates. Together they are running candidates in nearly every riding. CentreBC, OneBC and several smaller parties are also running candidates in some ridings but are not compared here. That is a judgement about scope, made because of the short snap-election timeline, not a judgement about those parties. Elections BC lists every candidate.
You vote for a local MLA, not directly for a party. A party’s positions are a good guide to how its MLAs will vote, but check who is running where you live.
Where positions come from
Every position comes from a public source: a party’s plan, policy briefs, news releases or leader’s statements; its record in government; or news coverage that quotes the leader. Every position links to its source. If we couldn’t find a source for something, we left it out.
The BC NDP has not published a platform document. Its positions come from its campaign announcements and, where the campaign is silent, from its record in government, such as the 2026 budget. Positions based on the government record are labelled Government record.
Some sources count for more than others. A party’s direct answer to our questionnaire comes first, then its own published material, then interviews, government records and news coverage. If several sources say the same thing, we show the strongest one, and every position tells you what kind of source it came from.
AI estimates are different. If a party has said something related but hasn’t addressed a question, we may use an AI model to make a careful guess. Each estimate names its source, explains the reasoning and says how confident it is. It isn’t the party’s own answer, but it does count toward your match score.
How the questions were chosen
We started from every commitment the three parties published after the election was called, and kept propositions where the parties actually disagree and where at least two of the three have a sourced position. Many questions name a cost (“even if it means …”), so that agreeing reflects a real trade-off rather than simply liking a good outcome.
One position per party, per question
A sourced position always wins. If there isn’t one, an AI estimate fills the gap. If the source doesn’t lean either way, the estimate is neutral. Either way, it’s labelled as an estimate, not as something the party said.
How the match is calculated
Each question uses a five-point scale, from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Your score on a question comes from how close your answer is to the party’s: the same answer scores 100%, one step apart scores 75%, and opposite ends score 0%.
Not every question counts equally. You can mark each one as not important, somewhat important, important or very important, and the ones you care about most carry more weight in your match — if you don’t touch these settings, every question is weighted as important by default. AI estimates carry a little over half the weight of a sourced position, so they move your score less.
Your match is the weighted average across every question you and the party both answered. Questions you skip, or mark as undecided or prefer not to answer, don’t count.
What this can’t tell you
- Whether a party will actually do what it says, or how it would pay for it. No party had published a costed platform when this was built.
- Anything about a party’s or leader’s track record, competence or conduct.
- How a party would handle an issue that isn’t asked about here.
- Whether a party has changed its position since the source was published.
Corrections
If we got a position wrong, it’s out of date, or it’s credited to the wrong party, let us know and we’ll fix it. Email [email protected] with the party, the question and a source, and we’ll make the correction and keep a record of the change. Parties are welcome to send us their answers directly. A party’s own answer is the best source we can get.
About the data
The data was last updated on October 11, 2026, and sources were last checked on October 11, 2026. The research, the tools that build the data and this site are all open source, so you can trace any number here back to where it came from.
This project was inspired by Vox Pop Labs’ Vote Compass. It isn’t affiliated with Vote Compass, Vox Pop Labs or any media partner.