Canadian Federal Elections: More About Candidates and Parties

The rules governing party registration and activities are laid out in Part 17 (Third Party Advertising, Partisan Activities and Election Surveys) of the Canada Elections Act (SC 2000, c.9). Elections Canada maintains a Registered Political Parties and Parties Eligible for Registration with basic information for the registered parties and reasons for de-registration for the other parties (with citations to the Canada Elections Act)

The rules governing nomination are laid out in Part 6 (Candidates) of the Canada Elections Act (SC 2000, c.9). 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).

No later than 24 hours before the close of nominations, a registered party's chief agent must supply the Chief Electoral Officer with a list of candidates or prospective candidates who have been endorsed by the party, the riding in which they intend to run and the name or names of people who have endorsed the candidate. As soon as possible but but no later than the close of nominations, the Chief Electoral Officer must provide this information to the district electoral officers. 

The Elections Canada  Voter Information Service portal provides a list of candidates by riding along with, where known and approved, their party affiliation. The following links lead to lists of candidates. Where there is no party link, the general party site, listed above, should be consulted. Elections Canada also maintains a List of Confirmed Candidates that can be downloaded in tab-delimited form.

• Government Information Guides
• Data & Statistics
• Omni Guide
• Citing Government Information
• Academic Integrity
• Ask & Services