Prime Minister Stephen Harper put election rumors to rest Sunday when he asked Canada’s Governor General to dissolve Parliament, triggering a federal election.

Canadians will now go to the polls Oct. 14, the day after Thanksgiving.

Locally, the 37-day campaign is already promising to keep all four party candidates on their toes.

Each of the candidates was off and running with various campaign plans just hours after the election was called.

Incumbent Conservative MP Tony Clement was doing door-to-door visits in the riding Sunday afternoon.

“I’m just going to keep working hard like I’ve done for the past two-and-a-half years,” said Clement about his campaign strategy. “I never stopped door-knocking, getting people’s opinions or talking to people face-to-face. To me, this is just a continuation of the face-to-face contact that I’ve had with my constituents."

Clement is scheduled to officially open his campaign offices in Bracebridge and Parry Sound Monday.

The Liberals, meanwhile, are also wasting no time gearing up for the campaign.

 “We’re in full swing,” federal Liberal riding association president Laurie Fountain said Sunday.  “We have signs out already…and a whole team in place.”

The party will open a campaign office on Manitoba Street in Bracebridge sometime this week. It also plans to have Etobicoke-Lakeshore MP Michael Ignatieff visit the riding to drum up support for federal Liberal candidate Jamie McGarvey. Ignatieff is scheduled to make a stop in Gravenhurst Sept. 11.

While Fountain admitted that Clement will be tough to beat, Liberals are confident they have the right team in place.

“I’m optimistic,” he said. “I think Canadians are smarter than the Conservatives think they are.”

In addition to Ignatieff, other well-known politicians could also make appearances in the riding during the election campaign.

Parry Sound-Muskoka federal Green Party candidate Glen Hodgson said he is attempting to have party leader Elizabeth May visit the area.

Hodgson said his party is in great shape for the election. It plans to challenge Canadians to make responsible choices for the future.

“The Greens are different and they have a different approach,” said Hodgson. “We’re challenging Canadians to stand-up and take a different direction.”

Locally, New Democratic Party members say they, too, have strong plans in place to win over more support during this campaign.

 “We’re ready to go, and have been ready for the past year-and-a-half,” said longtime NDP supporter and party volunteer Sara Hay. “We’re ordering the signs and talking to the media…it’s exciting.”

Hay said the party has complete confidence in local candidate and former federal NDP riding association president Jo-Anne Boulding.

“We’re just so glad to have her as our candidate again,” Hay said.

While the riding association would love to have federal NDP leader Jack Layton visit the riding, a local stop may be difficult to arrange, Hay said.

“We always hope it would be a possibility… (But) to get onto the leaders tour is hard.

Still, Hay said the party would “never say never” about the possibility.