[citation needed] Major political parties attempt to have a riding association in each constituency, although usually these associations are more active in ridings where the party has an elected Member of Parliament or has a reasonable chance of electing an MP in the future, and less active in ridings where the party's prospects have historically been poor.
Most riding associations have an elected executive and attempt to have activities for local party members at regular intervals.
At a minimum, riding associations hold an annual general meeting to elect the executive and meetings to elect delegates to national and regional party policy conventions.
However, as the riding association remains the prime point of contact between members and the party they remain important for leadership candidates in their attempt to gain support, and prospective leadership candidates will often attempt to win control of a riding association's executive when it is elected at the annual general meeting even if a leadership election is not anticipated for several years.
Riding associations also exist at the provincial level and operate in the same manner.