B.C. Liberal MLA Lorne Mayencourt will seek the federal Conservative nomination in the Vancouver-Centre riding, taking on veteran Liberal MP Hedy Fry.
Mayencourt says he will make the announcement official on Monday.
The 51-year-old MLA currently represents Vancouver-Burrard in the B.C. legislature but announced last December that he would not be seeking re-election provincially.
Now it seems he will seek the federal Tory nod for an election expected to be called on Sunday. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to send Canadians to the polls on Oct. 14.
Mayencourt was first elected in the 2001 B.C. provincial election and was re-elected in 2005 by a narrow margin.
When the 51-year-old announced his departure from provincial politics in May he said he would focus on his new passion: a live-in drug treatment centre he spearheaded near Prince George, B.C.
But now Mayencourt says he wants to take his idea to Ottawa.
"There's an opportunity to look after people and help heal them from their addictions - to solve the problem of chronic homelessness," he said.
Mayencourt will join B.C.'s Green Party leader Adriane Carr and the NDP's University of B.C. professor Michael Byers in challenging Fry, who has represented the downtown Vancouver riding since she defeated Prime Minister Kim Campbell in the 1993 election.
He admits it will be a tough fight, but says he is the right man to take on the traditionally Liberal stronghold.
"I'm out there on the street, and I'm making sure that I'm dealing with the issues that are important to the community whether that's safe schools or safe streets or creating a therapeutic community in B.C.," Mayencourt told CTV News.
"Those issues are things that I think resonate with the voters, and people want us to deal with those problems," he said.
Mayencourt says he isn't worried about beating Fry. He insists he has strong standing in the riding and voters are ready for a change.
With files from The Canadian Press and CTV British Columbia
