Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday called an early election for Sept 20, saying he needed a new mandate to ensure voters approved of his Liberal government's plan to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Trudeau, 49, is betting that high vaccination rates against the virus and a post-pandemic economic rebound will help him prolong and strengthen his grip on power. Newly released data shows 71 percent of the country's eligible population is fully vaccinated...