Strong and Free Elections Act (S.C. 2026, c. 20)

• 71 (1) The portion of subsection 510.01(1) of the Act before paragraph (b) is replaced by the following:

  Marginal note:Order requiring testimony, etc.

  • 510.01 (1) If, on application of the Commissioner or the Commissioner’s authorized representative, a judge is satisfied by information on oath that there are reasonable grounds to believe that this Act has been contravened or is about to be contravened — or that there is or is about to be a conspiracy or attempt to contravene this Act or that a person or entity is or is about to be an accessory after the fact, or has counselled or is about to counsel, in relation to such a contravention — and that an individual has or is likely to have information that will provide evidence of the contravention or conduct in question, a judge may order the individual to

    • (a) attend as specified in the order and be examined on oath by the Commissioner or the authorized representative on any matter that is relevant to the contravention or conduct before an individual, in sections 510.02 to 510.04 referred to as a “presiding officer”, designated in the order;

    • (a.1) preserve any records or other things specified in the order;

    • (a.2) produce to the Commissioner or the authorized representative, within a time and at a place specified in the order, a record — or a copy of a record certified by affidavit to be a true copy — or any other thing specified in the order; or

• (2) Subsection 510.01(3) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Restriction

    (3) No order may be made under subsection (1) against the individual whose conduct is being investigated.

• 72 (1) Subsection 510.1(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  Marginal note:Confidentiality

  • 510.1 (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (4), neither the Commissioner nor any person acting under the Commissioner’s direction shall disclose any information relating to an investigation that comes to their knowledge in the exercise of their powers or the performance of their duties and functions under this Act, including information that reveals or from which may be inferred the name of the complainant, if any, the person whose conduct is being investigated or any witness.

• (2) Paragraph 510.1(2)(d) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  • (d) information that is required to be disclosed in the course of a prosecution for an offence under this Act or for a conspiracy to commit, an attempt to commit, being an accessory after the fact in relation to, or any counselling in relation to, an offence under this Act;

• (3) Section 510.1 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (3):

  • Marginal note:Information relating to investigations

    (4) The Commissioner may disclose — or may authorize any person acting under the Commissioner’s direction to disclose — any information relating to an investigation that comes to their knowledge in the exercise of their powers or the performance of their duties and functions under this Act to the government of a foreign state, an international organization of states, an international organization established by the government of states or an institution of such a government or organization if

    • (a) the disclosure may, in the Commissioner’s opinion, be relevant to an investigation conducted by the Commissioner or to an investigation or proceeding in respect of a contravention of the laws of a foreign state that address conduct that is substantially similar to conduct prohibited under this Act; and

    • (b) the information is disclosed in accordance with a memorandum of understanding or other arrangement that the Commissioner enters into with the government, organization or institution.

  • Marginal note:Contents of memorandum or arrangement

    (5) The memorandum of understanding or other arrangement shall

    • (a) restrict the use of the information to the purpose for which it was originally disclosed; and

    • (b) stipulate that the information be treated in a confidential manner and not be further disclosed without the express consent of the Commissioner or the person authorized by the Commissioner to disclose the information.

73 Section 511 of the Act is replaced by the following:

74 Subsection 512(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

• 75 (1) Subsection 514(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  Marginal note:Limitation period

  • 514 (1) Proceedings in respect of an offence under a provision set out in subsection 500(1) — or in respect of a conspiracy to commit, an attempt to commit, being an accessory after the fact in relation to, or any counselling in relation to, such an offence — may be commenced at any time within, but not later than, six years after the day on which the subject matter of the proceedings arose.

• (2) Subsection 514(3) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:No limitation period

    (3) Proceedings in respect of an offence under a provision set out in any of subsections 500(2) to (5) — or in respect of a conspiracy to commit, an attempt to commit, being an accessory after the fact in relation to, or any counselling in relation to, such an offence — may be commenced at any time.

• 76 (1) Subsection 516(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  Marginal note:Application for injunction

  • 516 (1) If the Commissioner has reasonable grounds to believe that a person or entity has committed, is about to commit or is likely to commit an act or omission that is contrary to this Act — or an act or omission that constitutes a conspiracy or attempt to contravene this Act or that constitutes being an accessory after the fact or counselling in relation to a contravention of this Act — the Commissioner may, during an election period, after taking into account the nature and seriousness of the act or omission, the need to ensure fairness of the electoral process and the public interest, apply to a competent court described in subsection 525(1) for an injunction described in subsection (2).

• (2) The portion of subsection 516(2) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Injunction

    (2) If the court, on application by the Commissioner under subsection (1), is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that a person or entity has committed, is about to commit or is likely to commit an act or omission referred to in that subsection and that the nature and seriousness of the act or omission, the need to ensure fairness of the electoral process and the public interest justify the issuing of an injunction, the court may issue an injunction ordering any person or entity named in the application to do one or both of the following:

• (3) Subsection 516(3) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Notice

    (3) No injunction may be issued under subsection (2) unless at least 48 hours notice is given to each person or entity named in the application or the urgency of the situation is such that service of notice would not be in the public interest.

• 77 (1) Subsection 517(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  Marginal note:Power to enter into compliance agreement

  • 517 (1) Subject to subsection (7), the Commissioner may enter into a compliance agreement, aimed at ensuring compliance with this Act, with a person or entity (in this section and sections 518 to 521 called the “contracting party”) if the Commissioner believes on reasonable grounds that the person or entity has committed, is about to commit or is likely to commit an act or omission that could constitute an offence under this Act or that could constitute a conspiracy or attempt to commit, or being an accessory after the fact or counselling in relation to, an offence under this Act.

• (2) Subsection 517(4) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Admission of responsibility

    (4) A compliance agreement may include a statement by the contracting party in which it admits responsibility for the act or omission in question.

78 Paragraph 521.11(1)(b) of the Act is replaced by the following:

• 79 (1) Paragraph 521.13(3)(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  • (a) identifies the provision of this Act, the requirement or the provision of the compliance agreement or undertaking to which the violation relates;

• (2) Paragraph 521.13(3)(b) of the English version of the Act is replaced by the following:

  • (b) identifies the act or omission to which the violation relates; and

80 Paragraphs 521.14(a) and (b) of the Act are replaced by the following:

81 Section 521.24 of the Act is replaced by the following:

82 Section 521.27 of the Act is replaced by the following:

83 Subsection 540(4.1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

83.1 Subsection 541(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definition of Act

• 84 (1) In this section and sections 85 and 86, Act means the Canada Elections Act.

• Marginal note:Words and expressions

  (2) The words and expressions used in sections 85 to 87 have the same meaning as in the Act.

Transitional Provisions

Marginal note:Policy for the protection of personal information — parties already registered, etc.

• 85 (1) Within three months after the day on which this section comes into force, the leader of a political party must provide the Chief Electoral Officer with the party’s policy for the protection of personal information referred to in subsection 446.6(1) of the Act if

  • (a) before the day on which this section comes into force, the leader of the party has applied under section 385 of the Act for the party to become a registered party but, as of that day, the Chief Electoral Officer has not yet informed the leader under subsection 389(1) of the Act whether the party is eligible under section 387 of the Act for registration; or

  • (b) on the day on which this section comes into force, the party is

    • (i) an eligible party, or

    • (ii) a registered party.

• Marginal note:Failure to comply

  (2) If the leader of the political party does not comply with subsection (1), then

  • (a) in the case of a party referred to in paragraph (1)(a), the party is not eligible under section 387 of the Act for registration;

  • (b) in the case of a party referred to in subparagraph (1)(b)(i), the party is not permitted to become a registered party under section 390 of the Act; and

  • (c) in the case of a party referred to in subparagraph (1)(b)(ii), the Chief Electoral Officer must implement the procedure for non-voluntary deregistration set out in sections 415, 416 and 418 of the Act.

• Marginal note:Deemed inclusion in application for registration

  (3) If the leader of a political party provides the Chief Electoral Officer with the policy referred to in subsection (1) in compliance with that subsection, or in compliance with a notice referred to in subsection 415(1) of the Act or a notice amended under subsection 415(2) of the Act, then the application for registration referred to in subsection 385(2) of the Act in respect of the party is deemed to include the policy as of the day on which the policy is provided.