Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to set the gears in motion Sunday for a federal election.

He’s set to visit Governor General Mary Simon to ask her to dissolve Parliament and call a vote for September 20th.

Trudeau is pulling the trigger on an election campaign just as a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic gathers steam across the country.

Opposition leaders have argued that plunging into an election during the health crisis is both unnecessary and reckless.

But the Trudeau Liberals are hoping the risk is worth it as they try to turn their minority government into a majority mandate less than two years after Canadians last went to the polls.

As it stands, the Liberals have 155 seats, the Conservatives 119, the Bloc Quebecois 32, the N.D.P. 24 and the Greens two. There are also four Independents and one vacancy.