This article in the National Post says Canada has 338 House of Commons districts, and almost 1,800 candidates are on the ballot. That works out to 5.3 candidates per district. Four parties have a candidate in all or virtually all districts.

By comparison, in the United States in November 2014, approximately half the districts only had two or fewer candidates on the ballot. Even the Democratic Party didn’t have candidates in 36 of the 435 districts; even the Republicans didn’t have candidates in 41 of the districts.

Ballot access in Canada is equal for every candidate. Every candidate submits 100 signatures and pays a filing fee of $1,000 Canadian dollars. For ballot access purposes, there is no such thing as a ballot-qualified party.