2000, c. 9

[Assented to May 31, 2000]

An Act respecting the election of members to the House of Commons, repealing other Acts relating to elections and making consequential amendments to other Acts

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

1. This Act may be cited as the Canada Elections Act.

2. (1) The definitions in this subsection apply in this Act.

“advance poll” means a vote held under Part 10.

“advance polling station” means a polling station established under subsection 168(3).

“broadcaster” means a person who is licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission under the Broadcasting Act to carry on a programming undertaking.

“broadcasting” means broadcasting, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Broadcasting Act, that is regulated and supervised by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission pursuant to section 5 of that Act.

“Broadcasting Arbitrator” means the person appointed as Broadcasting Arbitrator under subsection 332(1).

“by-election” means an election other than a general election.

“candidate” means a person whose nomination as a candidate at an election has been confirmed under subsection 71(1) and who, or whose official agent, has not complied with sections 451 to 463 and 471 to 475 in respect of that election.

“chief agent”, in respect of a registered party, means the chief agent named in the application for registration as required by paragraph 366(2)( h).

“close of nominations” means the deadline for the receipt of nominations set out in subsection 70(2).

“closing day for nominations” means the day referred to in section 69.

“commercial value”, in relation to property or a service, means the lowest amount charged at the time that it was provided for the same kind and quantity of property or service or for the same usage of property or money, by

( a) the person who provided it, if the person is in the business of providing that property or service; or

( b) another person who provides that property or service on a commercial basis in the area where it was provided, if the person who provided the property or service is not in that business.

“Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Canada Elections appointed under section 509.

“common-law partner”, in relation to an individual, means a person who is cohabiting with the individual in a conjugal relationship, having so cohabited for a period of at least one year.

“contribution” means a monetary contribution or a non-monetary contribution.

“election” means an election of a member to serve in the House of Commons.

“election documents” means the following documents:

( a) the writ with the return of the election endorsed on it;

( b) the nomination papers filed by the candidates;

( c) the reserve supply of undistributed blank ballot papers;

( d) documents relating to the revision of the lists of electors;

( e) the statements of the vote from which the validation of results was made; and

( f) the other returns from the various polling stations enclosed in sealed envelopes, as required by Part 12, and containing

(i) a packet of stubs and unused ballot papers,

(ii) packets of ballot papers cast for the various candidates,

(iii) a packet of spoiled ballot papers,

(iv) a packet of rejected ballot papers,

(v) a packet containing the list of electors used at the polling station, the written authorizations of candidates’ representatives and the used transfer certificates, if any, and

(vi) a packet containing the registration certificates.

“election officer” means a person referred to in subsection 22(1).

“election period” means the period beginning with the issue of the writ and ending on polling day or, where the writ is withdrawn under subsection 59(1) or is deemed to be withdrawn under section 551, on the day that the writ is withdrawn or deemed to be withdrawn.

“elector” means a person who is qualified as an elector under section 3.

“electoral district” means a place or territorial area that is represented by a member in the House of Commons.

“electoral district agent” means a person appointed under subsection 403.09(1), and includes the financial agent of a registered association.

“electoral district association” means an association of members of a political party in an electoral district.

“eligible party” means a political party that satisfies the criteria set out in section 368.

“judge”, when used to define the judicial officer on whom is conferred specific powers, means

( a) in relation to the Province of Ontario, a judge of the Superior Court of Justice;

( b) in relation to the Province of Quebec, a judge of the Superior Court of Quebec;

( c) in relation to the Provinces of Nova Scotia and British Columbia, a judge of the Supreme Court of the Province;

( d) in relation to the Provinces of New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, a judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench of the Province;

( e) in relation to the Provinces of Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, a judge of the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of the Province;

( f) in relation to the electoral district of Yukon, a judge of the Supreme Court of Yukon;

( g) in relation to the electoral district of the Northwest Territories, a judge of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories;

( h) in relation to the electoral district of Nunavut, a judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice; and

( i) in relation to any place or territory in Canada,

(i) if a vacancy exists or arises in the office of any such judge or if such a judge is unable to act by reason of illness or absence from their judicial district, the judge exercising the jurisdiction of that judge,

(ii) if there is more than one judge exercising that jurisdiction, the senior of them, and

(iii) if no judge is exercising that jurisdiction, a judge designated for the purpose by the Minister of Justice.

“leadership campaign agent” means a person appointed under subsection 435.08(1), and includes the financial agent of a leadership contestant.

“leadership campaign expense” means an expense reasonably incurred by or on behalf of a leadership contestant during a leadership contest as an incidence of the contest, including a personal expense as defined in section 435.03.

“leadership contest” means a competition for the selection of the leader of a registered party.

“leadership contestant” means a person who has been registered in the registry of leadership contestants referred to in section 435.07 and who, or whose financial agent, has not yet complied with sections 435.3 to 435.47 in respect of that leadership contest.

“list of electors” means the list showing the surname, given names, civic address and mailing address of every elector in a polling division.

“member” means a member of the House of Commons.

“Minister” means the member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada designated by the Governor in Council for the purposes of this Act.

“monetary contribution” means an amount of money provided that is not repayable.

“nomination campaign expense” means an expense reasonably incurred by or on behalf of a nomination contestant during a nomination contest as an incidence of the contest, including a personal expense as defined in section 478.01.

“nomination contest” means a competition for the selection of a person to be proposed to a registered party for its endorsement as its candidate in an electoral district.

“nomination contestant” means a person named as a nomination contestant in a nomination contest report filed in accordance with paragraph 478.02(1)( c) who, or whose financial agent, has not yet complied with sections 478.23 to 478.42 in respect of that nomination contest.

“non-monetary contribution” means the commercial value of a service, other than volunteer labour, or of property or of the use of property or money to the extent that they are provided without charge or at less than their commercial value.

“oath” includes a solemn affirmation and a statutory declaration.

“official agent” means the official agent appointed by a candidate as required by subsection 83(1).

“official list of electors” means the list of electors prepared by the returning officer under section 106.

“periodical publication” means a paper, magazine or periodical that is published periodically or in parts or numbers and that contains public news, intelligence or reports of events, or advertisements.

“personal information” means personal information as defined in section 3 of the Privacy Act.

“political affiliation”, in respect of a candidate, means the name of the political party that has endorsed him or her or the word “independent”, as the case may be, included in the nomination paper in accordance with subparagraph 66(1)( a)(v).

“political party” means an organization one of whose fundamental purposes is to participate in public affairs by endorsing one or more of its members as candidates and supporting their election.

“polling day”, in relation to an election, means the date fixed under paragraph 57(1)( c) for voting at the election.

“polling division” means a polling division referred to in section 538.

“polling station” means a place established under section 120, 122, 125, 205, 206, 207, 253 or 255 for electors to cast their votes.

“preliminary list of electors” means the list of electors prepared by the Chief Electoral Officer under subsection 93(1).

“prescribed”, in relation to a form or an oath, means one that is authorized by the Chief Electoral Officer.

“recount” means a recount of votes by a judge under Part 14.

“registered agent”, in relation to a registered party, means a person referred to in section 375 and includes the chief agent of the registered party.

“registered association” means an electoral district association registered in the registry of electoral district associations referred to in section 403.08.

“registered party” means a political party that is entered in the registry of parties referred to in section 374 as a registered party.

“Register of Electors” means the Register of Electors established under section 44.

“revised list of electors” means the list of electors prepared by the returning officer under section 105.

“spoiled”, in relation to a ballot or a special ballot as defined in section 177, means

( a) one that has not been deposited in the ballot box but has been found by the deputy returning officer to be soiled or improperly printed; or

( b) one that is dealt with under subsection 152(1), including in relation to advance polls by virtue of subsection 171(1), or subsection 213(4), 242(1) or 258(3).

“volunteer labour” means any service provided free of charge by a person outside their working hours, but does not include such a service provided by a person who is self-employed if the service is one that is normally charged for by that person.

“writ” means a writ of election.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, the commercial value of property or a service is deemed to be nil if

(a) it is provided by a person who is not in the business of providing that property or those services; and

(b) the amount charged for it is $200 or less.

(3) For the purposes of this Act, satisfactory proof of an elector’s identity and satisfactory proof of residence are established by the documentary proof of the elector’s identity and residence that is prescribed by the Chief Electoral Officer.

(4) A reference to a time of day in this Act is a reference to local time.

(5) If, in any provision of this Act, a reference to another provision of this Act or a provision of any other Act is followed by words in parentheses that are or purport to be descriptive of the subject-matter of the provision referred to, those words form no part of the provision in which they occur but are inserted for convenience of reference only.

2000, c. 9, s. 2, c. 12, s. 40; 2001, c. 21, s. 1; 2002, c. 7, s. 90; 2003, c. 19, s. 1; 2004, c. 24, s. 1.

3. Every person who is a Canadian citizen and is 18 years of age or older on polling day is qualified as an elector.

4. The following persons are not entitled to vote at an election:

(a) the Chief Electoral Officer;

(b) the Assistant Chief Electoral Officer; and

(c) every person who is imprisoned in a correctional institution serving a sentence of two years or more.

5. No person may

(a) vote or attempt to vote at an election knowing that they are not qualified as an elector or not entitled to vote under section 4; or

(b) induce another person to vote at an election knowing that the other person is not qualified as an elector or not entitled to vote under section 4.

6. Subject to this Act, every person who is qualified as an elector is entitled to have his or her name included in the list of electors for the polling division in which he or she is ordinarily resident and to vote at the polling station for that polling division.

7. No elector who has voted at an election may request a second ballot at that election.

8. (1) The place of ordinary residence of a person is the place that has always been, or that has been adopted as, his or her dwelling place, and to which the person intends to return when away from it.

(2) A person can have only one place of ordinary residence and it cannot be lost until another is gained.

(3) Temporary absence from a place of ordinary residence does not cause a loss or change of place of ordinary residence.

(4) If a person usually sleeps in one place and has their meals or is employed in another place, their place of ordinary residence is where they sleep.

(5) Temporary residential quarters are considered to be a person’s place of ordinary residence only if the person has no other place that they consider to be their residence.

(6) A shelter, hostel or similar institution that provides food, lodging or other social services to a person who has no dwelling place is that person’s place of ordinary residence.

9. If the rules set out in section 8 are not sufficient to determine the place of ordinary residence, it shall be determined by the appropriate election officer by reference to all the facts of the case.

10. Each candidate at a general election who, on the day before the dissolution of Parliament immediately before the election, was a member, and any elector living with the candidate on that day who would move, or has moved, with the candidate to continue to live with the candidate, is entitled to have his or her name entered on the list of electors for, and to vote at the polling station that is established for, the polling division in which is located

(a) the place of ordinary residence of the former member;

(b) the place of temporary residence of the former member in the electoral district in which the former member is a candidate;

(c) the office of the returning officer for the electoral district in which the former member is a candidate; or

(d) the place in Ottawa or in the area surrounding Ottawa where the former member resides for the purpose of carrying out parliamentary duties.

11. Any of the following persons may vote in accordance with Part 11:

(a) a Canadian Forces elector;

(b) an elector who is an employee in the federal public administration or the public service of a province and who is posted outside Canada;

(c) a Canadian citizen who is employed by an international organization of which Canada is a member and to which Canada contributes and who is posted outside Canada;

(d) a person who has been absent from Canada for less than five consecutive years and who intends to return to Canada as a resident;

(e) an incarcerated elector within the meaning of that Part; and

(f) any other elector in Canada who wishes to vote in accordance with that Part.

2000, c. 9, s. 11; 2003, c. 22, s. 100.

12. (1) No elector is entitled to vote at a by-election unless his or her place of ordinary residence on polling day is situated in the same electoral district that includes the polling division in which was situated the elector’s place of ordinary residence at the beginning of the revision period established by section 96.

(2) For the purpose of a by-election only and despite anything in this Act, an elector who, during the period between the beginning of the revision period and ending on polling day, has changed his or her place of ordinary residence from one polling division to another polling division in the same electoral district may register his or her name on the list of electors in the new polling division.

13. (1) There shall be a Chief Electoral Officer who shall be appointed by resolution of the House of Commons to hold office during good behaviour. He or she may be removed for cause by the Governor General on address of the Senate and House of Commons.

(2) The Chief Electoral Officer ceases to hold office on reaching 65 years of age.

14. (1) In case of the death, incapacity or negligence of the Chief Electoral Officer while Parliament is not sitting, a substitute Chief Electoral Officer shall, on the application of the Minister, be appointed by order of the Chief Justice of Canada or, in the absence of the Chief Justice of Canada, by the senior judge of the Supreme Court of Canada then present in Ottawa.

(2) A substitute Chief Electoral Officer shall act as Chief Electoral Officer until 15 days after the beginning of the next session of Parliament unless the Chief Justice of Canada or the judge who made the order to appoint the substitute Chief Electoral Officer sooner directs that the order be revoked.

(3) In the absence of both the Chief Justice of Canada and of the judge who made the order to appoint the substitute Chief Electoral Officer, the order may be revoked by any other judge of the Supreme Court of Canada.

(4) The substitute Chief Electoral Officer is entitled to be paid the remuneration fixed by the Governor in Council.

15. (1) The Chief Electoral Officer shall rank as and have all the powers of a deputy head of a department, shall perform the duties of the office on a full-time basis and shall not hold any other office under Her Majesty or engage in any other employment.

(2) The Chief Electoral Officer shall be paid a salary equal to the salary of a judge of the Federal Court, other than the Chief Justice of that Court, and is entitled to be paid reasonable travel and living expenses while absent from his or her ordinary place of residence in the course of his or her duties.

(3) The Chief Electoral Officer is deemed to be employed in the public service for the purposes of the Public Service Superannuation Act and to be employed in the federal public administration for the purposes of the Government Employees Compensation Act and any regulations made under section 9 of the Aeronautics Act.

(4) The Chief Electoral Officer shall communicate with the Governor in Council through the Minister for the purposes of this Act.

2000, c. 9, s. 15; 2002, c. 8, s. 116; 2003, c. 22, s. 101(E).

16. The Chief Electoral Officer shall

(a) exercise general direction and supervision over the conduct of elections;

(b) ensure that all election officers act with fairness and impartiality and in compliance with this Act;

(c) issue to election officers the instructions that the Chief Electoral Officer considers necessary for the administration of this Act; and

(d) exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions that are necessary for the administration of this Act.

17. (1) During an election period, if an emergency, an unusual or unforeseen circumstance or an error makes it necessary, the Chief Electoral Officer may adapt any provision of this Act and, in particular, may extend the time for doing any act, subject to subsection (2), or increase the number of election officers or polling stations.

(2) The Chief Electoral Officer shall not extend the hours within which a returning officer may receive a nomination paper or the voting hours at an advance polling station or, subject to subsection (3), the voting hours on polling day.

(3) If voting at a polling station is interrupted on polling day by an emergency and the Chief Electoral Officer is satisfied that, if the voting hours at the polling station are not extended, a substantial number of electors will not be able to vote, the Chief Electoral Officer shall extend the voting hours at the polling station for the period the Chief Electoral Officer considers necessary to give those electors a reasonable opportunity to vote, as long as the polling station does not in any case

(a) close later than midnight on polling day; or

(b) remain open during polling day for a total of more than 12 hours.

18. (1) The Chief Electoral Officer may implement public education and information programs to make the electoral process better known to the public, particularly to those persons and groups most likely to experience difficulties in exercising their democratic rights.

(2) The Chief Electoral Officer may, using any media or other means that he or she considers appropriate, provide the public, both inside and outside Canada, with information relating to Canada’s electoral process, the democratic right to vote and how to be a candidate.

(3) The Chief Electoral Officer may establish programs to disseminate information outside Canada concerning how to vote under Part 11.

18.1 The Chief Electoral Officer may carry out studies on voting, including studies respecting alternative voting means, and may devise and test an electronic voting process for future use in a general election or a by-election. Such a process may not be used for an official vote without the prior approval of the committees of the Senate and of the House of Commons that normally consider electoral matters.

2000, c. 9, s. 18.1; 2001, c. 21, s. 2.

19. (1) The staff of the Chief Electoral Officer shall consist of an officer known as the Assistant Chief Electoral Officer, appointed by the Governor in Council, and any other officers, clerks and employees that may be required, who shall be appointed in accordance with the Public Service Employment Act.

(2) The Assistant Chief Electoral Officer is deemed to be a person employed in the public service for the purposes of the Public Service Superannuation Act and is deemed to be employed in the federal public administration for the purposes of the Government Employees Compensation Act and any regulations made under section 9 of the Aeronautics Act.

2000, c. 9, s. 19; 2003, c. 22, s. 102(E).

20. Any additional officers, clerks and employees that the Chief Electoral Officer considers necessary for his or her exercise of powers, and discharge of duties, under this Act related to the preparation for, and the conduct of, an election may be employed, in the manner authorized by law, on a casual or temporary basis.

21. The Chief Electoral Officer may authorize the Assistant Chief Electoral Officer or any other officer on his or her staff to perform any of the Chief Electoral Officer’s functions under this Act.