Liberals in Beaches—East York will choose their candidate for the upcoming federal byelection later this month, with a nine-day nomination race now underway.

Party members will vote on July 18. To cast a ballot at the nomination meeting, voters have been registered Liberal members as of July 7.

The byelection was triggered by Nathaniel Erskine-Smith’s long-awaited resignation, which became official earlier this week.

The veteran Liberal MP had announced earlier this year he was resigning to run for the Ontario Liberal leadership. But he later pulled out of that race after losing the Ontario Liberal nomination for the Scarborough Southwest provincial byelection.

READ MORE: Race is on for Erskine-Smith’s seat 

Currently, five candidates  are seeking the Liberal nomination: social worker and community advocate Summer Nudel, former Liberal MPP Arthur Potts, former staffer to Erskine-Smith Tanveer Shahnawaz; son of former Toronto mayor John Tory, John Tory Jr., and former government staffer and Toronto-based lawyer Claire Seaborn, who’s interest in the race was first reported by iPolitics.  

Beaches—East York is just one of several ridings expected to hold a byelection this year. The seat in North Vancouver—Capilano, previously held by former Liberal cabinet minister Jonathan Wilkinson, is also up for grabs.

Quebec could see as many as four byelections as well. The vacant ridings include Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, formerly represented by Bloc MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, who stepped down to run in the provincial election and Chicoutimi-Le Fjord, where Conservative MP Richard Martel resigned to join the Senate.

READ MORE: Conservatives lose another MP as Carney appoints Martel to the Senate 

Byelections are also expected in Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie and Laurier-Sainte-Marie, though both former NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice and former Liberal MP Steven Guilbeault have not yet formally stepped down.