Canada Elections Act (S.C. 2000, c. 9)

Marginal note:New interpretation

16.3 If an opinion that is published under subsection 16.2(4) interprets a provision of the Act in a way that contradicts an interpretation of that provision provided in a previously issued opinion, the new interpretation does not replace the former interpretation until the date that the new opinion is issued under section 16.2.

Marginal note:Registry

16.4 The Chief Electoral Officer shall establish and maintain a registry on his or her Internet site that contains every guideline and interpretation note that is issued under section 16.1, every opinion that is issued under section 16.2 and all comments of the Commissioner that are provided under subsection 16.1(3) or 16.2(2).

• 16.5 (1) [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 12]

• Marginal note:Obligation to disclose documents and information

  (2) On the request of the Commissioner, the Chief Electoral Officer shall disclose to the Commissioner any document or information that the Chief Electoral Officer obtained under this Act and that the Commissioner considers necessary to the exercise or performance of his or her powers, duties and functions under this Act.

Marginal note:Power to adapt Act

• 17 (1) During an election period or within 30 days after it, if an emergency, an unusual or unforeseen circumstance or an error makes it necessary, the Chief Electoral Officer may, for the sole purpose of enabling electors to exercise their right to vote or enabling the counting of votes, adapt any provision of this Act and, in particular, may extend the time for doing any act, subject to subsection (2), or may increase the number of election officers or polling stations.

• Marginal note:Limitation — power to adapt

  (2) The Chief Electoral Officer shall not extend the voting hours at an advance polling station or, subject to subsection (3), the voting hours on polling day.

• Marginal note:Emergency — extending voting hours

  (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.

17.1 [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 13]

Marginal note:Public education and information programs

• 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.

• Marginal note:Communication with public

  (1.1) 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 and the democratic rights to vote and to be a candidate.

• Marginal note:Information outside Canada

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

• Marginal note:Communication with electors with a disability

  (2) The Chief Electoral Officer shall ensure that any information on the following that is provided under subsections (1) to (1.2) in an advertising message is accessible to electors with a disability:

  • (a) how to become a candidate;

  • (b) how an elector may have their name added to a list of electors and may have corrections made to information respecting them on the list;

  • (c) how an elector may vote under section 127 and the times, dates and locations for voting;

  • (d) how an elector may prove their identity and residence in order to vote, including the pieces of identification that they may use to that end; and

  • (e) the measures for assisting electors with a disability to access a polling station or advance polling station or to mark a ballot.

• Marginal note:Communication with future electors with a disability

  (2.1) If the Chief Electoral Officer provides, in an advertising message, any information under subsections (1) and (1.1) on how a future elector may have their name added to the Register of Future Electors and may have corrections made to information respecting them in that register, the Chief Electoral Officer shall ensure that the information is accessible to future electors with a disability.

• Marginal note:Unsolicited calls

  (3) The Chief Electoral Officer shall not provide information under this section by the use of calls, as defined in section 348.01, that are unsolicited.

Marginal note:International cooperation

18.01 The Chief Electoral Officer may provide assistance and cooperation in electoral matters to electoral agencies in other countries or to international organizations.

Marginal note:Voting studies

• 18.1 (1) The Chief Electoral Officer may carry out studies on voting, including studies respecting alternative voting means.

• Marginal note:Alternative voting

  (2) The Chief Electoral Officer may devise and test an alternative voting process for future use in an election.

• Marginal note:Voting technology — electors with a disability

  (3) The Chief Electoral Officer shall develop, obtain or adapt voting technology for use by electors with a disability, and may test the technology for future use in an election.

• Marginal note:Prior approval

  (4) Neither an alternative voting process nor voting technology tested under subsection (2) or (3) may be used in an election without the prior approval of the committees of the Senate and of the House of Commons that normally consider electoral matters.

Marginal note:Power to enter into contracts, etc.

• 18.2 (1) The Chief Electoral Officer may enter into contracts, memoranda of understanding or other arrangements in the name of Her Majesty in right of Canada or in the Chief Electoral Officer’s name in the exercise or performance of his or her powers, duties and functions under this Act or any other Act of Parliament.

• Marginal note:Leases

  (2) The Chief Electoral Officer may authorize a returning officer to enter into a lease in the Chief Electoral Officer’s name, subject to any terms and conditions that the Chief Electoral Officer specifies.

• Marginal note:Contracts, etc., binding on Her Majesty

  (3) Every contract, memorandum of understanding and arrangement entered into in the Chief Electoral Officer’s name is binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada to the same extent as it is binding on the Chief Electoral Officer.

• Marginal note:Goods and services

  (4) Despite section 9 of the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act, the Chief Electoral Officer may procure goods and services from outside the federal public administration.

Marginal note:Signature

18.3 A requirement under a provision of this Act for a signature may be satisfied in any manner that the Chief Electoral Officer authorizes.

Staff

Marginal note:Staff

19 The staff of the Chief Electoral Officer consists of employees appointed in accordance with the Public Service Employment Act.

Marginal note:Technical assistance

• 20 (1) The Chief Electoral Officer may engage on a temporary basis the services of persons having technical or specialized knowledge of any matter relating to the Chief Electoral Officer’s work to advise and assist him or her in the exercise or performance of his or her powers, duties and functions under this or any other Act of Parliament and, with the Treasury Board’s approval, may fix and pay those persons’ remuneration and expenses.

• Marginal note:Casual and temporary staff

  (2) Any additional employees that the Chief Electoral Officer considers necessary for the exercise or performance of his or her powers, duties and functions under this Act that are related to the preparation for, and the conduct of, an election may be employed on a casual or temporary basis in accordance with the Public Service Employment Act.

Marginal note:Delegation

21 The Chief Electoral Officer may delegate to any member of his or her staff, subject to any limitations that he or she may specify, any of his or her powers, duties and functions under this or any other Act of Parliament, except the power to delegate.

Advisory Committee of Political Parties

Marginal note:Establishment

• 21.1 (1) A committee is established, to be known as the Advisory Committee of Political Parties, consisting of the Chief Electoral Officer and two representatives of each registered party appointed by the party’s leader.

• Marginal note:Purpose

  (2) The purpose of the committee is to provide the Chief Electoral Officer with advice and recommendations relating to elections and political financing.

• Marginal note:Advice and recommendations not binding

  (3) The committee’s advice and recommendations are not binding on the Chief Electoral Officer.

• Marginal note:Meetings

  (4) The committee shall meet at least once a year and its meetings shall be presided over by the Chief Electoral Officer.

PART 3Election Officers

General

Marginal note:Election officers

• 22 (1) The following persons are election officers:

  • (a) field liaison officers appointed under section 23.2;

  • (a.1) returning officers appointed under subsection 24(1);

  • (b) assistant returning officers appointed under subsection 26(1) or 28(5) and additional assistant returning officers appointed under subsection 30(1);

  • (c) persons authorized by a returning officer under section 27 to exercise powers or perform duties under this Act;

  • (c.1) persons designated pursuant to subsection 28(3.1);

  • (d) [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 20]

  • (e) [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 20]

  • (f) [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 20]

  • (g) [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 20]

  • (g.1) [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 20]

  • (h) [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 20]

  • (i) [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 20]

  • (j) [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 20]

  • (k) [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 20]

  • (l) the special voting rules administrator appointed under section 181;

  • (m) special ballot officers appointed under subsection 183(1) or section 184; and

  • (n) liaison officers for correctional institutions appointed under subsection 248(1).

  • (o) [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 20]

• Marginal note:Election officers — exclusions

  (2) For greater certainty, a representative of a candidate who is present at a polling station is not an election officer.

• Marginal note:Who shall not be appointed election officers

  (3) The following persons shall not be appointed as an election officer:

  • (a) a minister of the Crown or a member of the executive council of a province;

  • (b) a member of the Senate or the House of Commons;

  • (c) a member of the legislative assembly of a province;

  • (d) a judge or deputy judge of any superior court or any bankruptcy or insolvency court and, in Yukon and the Northwest Territories, a judge of the Supreme Court;

  • (d.1) a person who was a candidate at the last general election or at a by-election held since the last general election;

  • (e) a person who has served in Parliament in the session immediately before the election or in the session in progress at the time of the election; and

  • (f) a person who, within seven years before the proposed appointment, has been found guilty of any offence under this Act or the Referendum Act, or a regulation made under the Referendum Act, or under an Act of the legislature of a province, or a regulation made under an Act of the legislature of a province, relating to provincial, municipal or school board elections.

• Marginal note:Qualifications

  (4) An election officer must be qualified as an elector, and an election officer referred to in paragraph (1)(a.1) or (b) must reside in the electoral district in which he or she is to exercise powers or perform duties under this Act or in an adjacent electoral district.

• Marginal note:Election officers younger than 18

  (5) Despite subsection (4), an election officer appointed under section 32 may be under 18 years of age but must be at least 16 years of age.

• Marginal note:Prohibition — acting as election officer

  (6) No person shall act as an election officer knowing that they do not meet the requirements for an election officer set out in this section.