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Canadian Federal Elections: More About How It Works

A guide to sources of information on the federal election

Introduction

In this section, you will find information on how and when elections are called, how candidates are chosen, how they are run, and what happens the polls close.

Calling the Election

There are no set dates for general elections. They are held when the Governor General issues a proclamation to dissolve Parliament. The Prime Minister begins the process by presenting the Governor General with an Instrument of Advice recommending that Parliament be dissolved. The Governor General generally concurs but is not bound to do so. In 1926, in what became known as the "King-Byng Affair," Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's request that Parliament be dissolved was refused.

When an election is called, the following three Statutory Instruments (SIs) are issued by the Governor General:

  1. Dissolving Parliament  (SI/2019-98)
  2. Setting the date for an election by ordering the Chief Returning Officer to issue Writs dated September 11th, 2019 setting forth Monday, October 21, 2019 as the date for voting and ordering the return of the Writs by November 11, 2019 (SI/2019-99)
  3. Summoning the new Parliament to meet on November 18, 2019 (SI/2019-100)

They are usually issued together and are published in the Canada Gazette, Part II. The SIs issued for the 2015 election are found here. The current SIs have been published in a special edition of the Canada Gazette, Part II (Thursday Sep. 12, 2019. Vol. 153 EXTRA No. 1)

Formerly, by custom, Parliaments could not last more than five years except in extraordinary circumstances. In 2007, a law was passed requiring that a general election be held on the third Monday in October in the fourth calendar year following the polling day for the last general election, "unless the Governor General sees fit to hold the general election on another date." The law (SC 2007, c.10) changed the Canada Elections Act (SC 2000, c.9). SC 2007, c.10 and was introduced in the House of Commons as Bill C-16. You can follow its passage here.

There is also no set length and a Parliament lasts as long as the Government enjoys the confidence of the House or until it decides to call an election. Parliaments have lasted as long as five years and there have been Parliaments that have lasted less than a year.

A Writ of Election is issued to the Returning Officer for each electoral district commanding that an election be held. The Writ contains:

  1. The date that the new Parliament is commanded to be convened
  2. A deadline for receiving nominations.
  3. The date to hold an election if more than one nomination is received.
  4. The deadline for returning the Writ with the results recorded on the back.

The form the Writ takes is found in Schedule 1 of the Canada Elections Act:

Nominations

The Canada Elections Act governs the nomination process. Qualifications and the nomination process are covered are covered in Part Six of the Act. Anyone who is eligible to vote may become a candidate unless they:

  1. have been disenfranchised as a result of committing an offence under the Canada Elections Act;
  2. are a member of a provincial legislature;
  3. are the Chief Electoral Officer, a federal judge (other than a Citizenship Court judge), or an elections official;
  4. are in prison; or
  5. have been a candidate and have not submitted the required documentation by the deadline.

To be nominated, a candidate must file Nomination Papers (Elections Canada Form EC 20010 (link) containing (among other things):

  1. the candidate's name, address and occupation,
  2. the address designated by the candidate for service of documents,
  3. name and address of the candidate’s official agent,
  4. the name of the political party that has endorsed the prospective candidate (if applicable),
  5. a sworn statement confirming that the candidate consents to the nomination;
  6. the signature of 100 witnesses resident in the electoral district (50 for a small number of ridings).

The papers must be filed with the Returning Officer for the riding by the deadline specified in the Act (Monday September 20th, 2019 at 2:00PM). An updated list of Returning Officers can be found on the Elections Canada website. Their full names and addresses are published at the time of their appointment in the Canada Gazette, Part I and in periodic consolidations, the most recent of which was published in the January 19th, 2019. Candidates can also register online after they've created a Political Entities Service Centre (PESC) account.

Election Day and After

The Canada Elections Act sets out the law regarding voting in Parts 9-11 and counting ballots, confirming the results, and returning the Writ in Parts 12-15.

  1. Polls are closed after having been open for twelve consecutive hours (with some minor local variations allowed).
  2. An election officer assigned to the polling station opens the ballot box and counts the ballots in the presence of another election officer and any candidates or their representatives present or, in their absence, two electors.
  3. The first election officer examines the ballots and counts them and the second officer keeps record.
  4. The ballots are sorted, put into envelopes, and the envelopes along with the box are returned to the Returning Officer.
  5. The Returning Officer validates the results  in the presence of the assistant returning officer and witnesses (either candidates' representatives or, in their absence, two electors).
  6. The Returning Officer prepares a certificate setting out the results and delivers the original to the Chief Electoral Officer and sends copies to the candidates or their representatives.
  7. If no recount is required (covered under Part 14 of the Canada Elections Act), the Returning Officer declares the winning candidate elected by completing the return of the Writ in the prescribed form on the back.