Elections In Canada
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Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
holds
election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...
s for legislatures or governments in several jurisdictions: for the federal (national) government, provincial and territorial governments, and municipal governments. Elections are also held for self-governing First Nations and for many other public and private organizations including
corporations A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...
and
trade unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
. Municipal elections can also be held for both upper-tier (
regional municipality A regional municipality (or region) is a type of Canadian municipal government similar to and at the same municipal government level as a county, although the specific structure and servicing responsibilities may vary from place to place. R ...
or
county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
) and lower-tier (town, village, or city) governments. Formal elections have occurred in Canada since at least 1792, when both
Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...
and
Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...
had their first elections. Canada's first recorded election was held in Halifax in 1758 to elect the 1st General Assembly of Nova Scotia. All Canadian citizens aged 18 or older may register and vote in federal elections. The most recent Canadian federal election occurred on April 28, 2025. Elections for other levels of government may have additional residency or ownership requirements. For example, some municipalities allow both residents and non-resident landowners to vote.


Electoral regulatory bodies

Elections in Canada (federal, provincial, or Territorial) are organised by their respective election regulatory bodies as follows:


National (federal) elections

The
Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada () is the Canadian federalism, federal legislature of Canada. The Monarchy of Canada, Crown, along with two chambers: the Senate of Canada, Senate and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, form the Bicameral ...
has two chambers: the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
has 343 members, elected for a maximum five-year term in single-seat
electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
s through
first-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...
, and the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
has 105 members appointed by the
governor general Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...
on the advice of the
prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
. Senators are given permanent terms (up to age 75) and thus often serve much longer than the prime minister who was primarily responsible for their appointment. National elections are governed by the '' Canada Elections Act'' and administered by an independent agency,
Elections Canada Elections Canada () is the non-partisan agency responsible for administering elections in Canada, Canadian federal elections and Referendums in Canada, referendums. History Elections Canada is an agency of the Parliament of Canada, and reports ...
.
Canadians Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
vote for their choice for local Member of Parliament (MP), who will hold a seat in the House of Commons. Under
first-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...
, the plurality winner is elected and then votes as the named representative of that specific
constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
in the House of Commons. But in practice usually voting in line with other members of their party caucus in the House of Commons. The leader of the party most likely to hold the confidence of the House of Commons becomes the prime minister. They stay in power as long as they hold the support of a majority of MPs in the House of Commons. Most MPs are members of a
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
, although candidates may stand for election and be elected as independents unaffiliated with any political party. The practice of listing candidates' party affiliation on ballots began with the 1972 election. Since then, the Canada Elections Act has required that a local candidate running under a party label be directly approved by the leader of their affiliated party, effectively centralizing the candidate nomination process. Once MPs are elected, sitting members of parliament are permitted to "
cross the floor In some parliamentary systems (e.g., in Canada and the United Kingdom), politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a political party different from the one they were initially elected under. I ...
" switching party affiliation without having to first resign and restand for office under their new affiliation. Sitting members may also be dismissed from or voluntarily leave their party and become independents. By-elections (casual vacancies) also may change the party seat counts. As a result, the distribution of seats by party affiliation often fluctuates between elections. Although several parties are typically represented in parliament, Canada historically has had two dominant political parties: the
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...
and the Conservative Party, which was preceded by the Progressive Conservative Party and the Conservative Party (1867–1942). However, in the 2011 federal election, the New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP), took the second largest caucus. While other parties have sometimes formed the
Official Opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...
, the 41st Parliament (2011–2015) was the first in which the Liberals did not form either the government or the Official Opposition. Every government since
Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
has been either Liberal or Conservative with the exception of the Unionist government during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, which was a coalition of Conservatives and some Liberals. Most have been majority governments (one party holding a majority of seats in the House of Commons, even if not holding a majority of votes cast in the last election). Many times due to strong showing by "third parties", no party (neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives) captured a majority of seats in the House of Commons, thus producing a minority government. Faced with such a situation, the Liberals and the NDP signed a Confidence and Supply Agreement in 2022, the first of its kind in Canada. If a government loses a confidence motion, traditionally the prime minister asks the governor general to call an election and traditionally the governor general follows that advice. However, the viceroy's compliance is not assured -- the governor general has the right to seek out another party leader who is thought to command the confidence of the House (support from majority of the MPs) and ask them to form a government. This happened in 1926 and is referred to as the ''
King–Byng Affair The King–Byng affair, also known as the King–Byng Wing Ding, was a Canadian constitutional crisis that occurred in 1926, when the governor general of Canada, Lord Byng of Vimy, refused a request by the prime minister, William Lyon Mackenz ...
''. Strictly speaking, the five-year time limitation is applied to the life of the parliament or assembly in question — that body is not deemed to have been formed until the return of the
writs In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, and ''certiorari'' are common types of writs ...
and ceases to exist the moment it is dissolved. It is therefore legally possible for slightly more than five years to elapse between election days, as was the case between the
1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...
and 1935 elections. As well, under emergency situations it is possible to extend the life of the government as Prime Minister Borden did - the 1917 election took place six years and three months after the previous election. Although the law allows for a five-year gap between election and dissolution, there have been in fact only two gaps since 1974 that approached the five-year limit:
1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...
-
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
and 1988-
1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
. When no party secures a majority of seats, it is common for a government to last just a couple years or less. (The 1979 government of Joe Clark lasted just six months.) As well, a party with a majority of seats may decide to call an election early, hoping to win more seats and fearing that postponement will lower its chances for reelection. At the federal level, there have been eight
general elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
since 2000. All provinces had brought in fixed-term legislation, dictating that a government will run only four years, but even where such legislation is in effect, variation is possible. It is also possible for a general election to be delayed should Canada be embroiled in a
war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
or
insurrection Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...
. This provision was enacted to allow Prime Minister Sir
Robert Borden Sir Robert Laird Borden (June 26, 1854 – June 10, 1937) was a Canadian lawyer and Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942), Conservative politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920. He is best known ...
to delay a federal election for about a year during the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Since then, the provision has only been used twice, both times by provincial governments — Ontario delayed an election for a few weeks in the year following the Armistice in 1918. Saskatchewan was the only jurisdiction to delay a general election by more than a year, due to
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, but held an election in 1944, one week more than six years after the previous vote. The Canadian population generally misunderstands the electoral system, with most citizens believing they vote to directly elect the prime minister; that the majority choice is elected in each district; that a majority government in the House of Commons had support of a majority of voters; that a party with the most seats in the House of Commons has the right to control the House of Commons. In 2008, Conservative politicians tried to use the public's misconception of how governments are formed to defend its decision to maintain its grip on power despite not having a majority of seats in the House of Commons. Attempts to correct erroneous claims are often delegitimized as politically motivated.


Results

Hugo Cyr found in 2017 that the Canadian media's habit of announcing, before polls close on election nights, which party will form the next government misrepresents the process of the governor general or lieutenant governors appointing cabinet or executive councils, respectively, "as automatic, merely a matter of arithmetic". The leader of a party that secures a majority of seats in the House of Commons or other legislative assembly is the obvious choice to be prime minister or premier. And when no party has majority of seats, the leader of the political party that wins the plurality of seats in the elected body is typically called by the
governor general Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...
or
lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
to form a government. But this is not a requirement. The relevant viceroy must appoint as
head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...
whoever can command the
confidence Confidence is the feeling of belief or trust that a person or thing is reliable. * * * Self-confidence is trust in oneself. Self-confidence involves a positive belief that one can generally accomplish what one wishes to do in the future. Sel ...
of the elected house. This means a party that does not win the majority of seats, or even the plurality of seats in an election, can still govern if it allies itself with another party or other parties in the same legislative chamber, so as to, combined, hold the majority of seats, whether forming a
coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...
or not. Only a few coalition governments have existed in Canadian history. To produce a working majority, Liberals and the NDP signed a Confidence and Supply Agreement in 2022, the first of its kind in Canada, which allowed the Liberal minority government to rule for longer than most minority governments have done so historically. In many cases, minority governments have been sustained in power due to passage of bills by ad hoc case-by-case multi-party support, at least for a couple years. Due to many votes not being used to elect the winner in each of the 340 or so ridings in Canada, a party's share of seats in the House of Commons may vary considerably from the party's share of votes cast. Smaller parties have almost always received fewer seats than their due share. Disproportional artificially-produced one-party sweep of a province's seats is often produced. On occasion a party with more votes may receive fewer seats than a party with fewer votes. Such situations lead some to call for electoral reform and
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...
. ("Adopted and attempted electoral reform" is discussed below.)


Fixed dates

Section 4 of the ''
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part of the '' Constitution Act, 1982''. The ''Char ...
'' limits the term of any federal, provincial, or territorial parliament to a maximum of five years after the return of the writs of the last election. On November 6, 2006, the
Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada () is the Canadian federalism, federal legislature of Canada. The Monarchy of Canada, Crown, along with two chambers: the Senate of Canada, Senate and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, form the Bicameral ...
amended the Canada Elections Act to introduce a requirement that each federal general election must take place on the third Monday in October in the fourth calendar year after the previous poll, starting with October 19, 2009. Since then, all provinces and territories have enacted similar legislation establishing fixed election dates. These laws, nevertheless, do not curtail the power of the governor general or a provincial lieutenant governor to dissolve a legislature prior to the fixed election date on the advice of the relevant first minister or due to a
motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...
. Even where such legislation is in effect, voluntary variation is possible.


By-elections and referenda

By-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
s can be held between general elections when seats become vacant through the resignation or death of a member. The date of the by-election is determined by the governor general, who must call it between 11 and 180 days after being notified of the seat vacancy by the Speaker of the House of Commons. The federal government can also hold nationwide
referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
s on major issues. The last federal referendum was held in 1992, on proposed constitutional changes in the Charlottetown Accord. On occasion, one particular issue will dominate an election, and the election will in a sense be a virtual referendum. The most recent instance of this was the 1988 election, which was considered by most parties to be a referendum on free trade with the United States.


Qualifications

Every Canadian citizen 18 years of age or older has the right to vote, except for the Chief Electoral Officer and the Deputy Chief Electoral Officer. In the Canada Elections Act, inmates serving a sentence of at least two years were prohibited from voting, but on October 31, 2002, the
Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...
ruled in '' Sauvé v. Canada'' that such a law violated the section 3 of the Charter, and was rendered of no force or effect. The federal
National Register of Electors The National Register of Electors () is a continuously updated permanent database of eligible electors for federal elections in Canada maintained by Elections Canada. It was established in December 1996 when Bill C-63 was granted royal assent an ...
is updated to reflect various changes in the Canadian population, including address changes, reaching voting age, naturalization, and death. Every year, about 3,000,000 address changes are processed by Elections Canada from information obtained from the
Canada Revenue Agency The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA; ; ) is the revenue service of the Government of Canada, Canadian federal government, and most Provinces and territories of Canada, provincial and territorial governments. The CRA collects Taxation in Canada, taxes, ...
,
Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (, trading as Canada Post (), is a Canadian Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Can ...
(via the National Change of Address service), provincial and territorial motor vehicle registrars, and provincial electoral agencies with permanent voters lists. Every year, about 400,000 Canadians reach voting age and 200,000 Canadians die, resulting in changes to the National Register of Electors based on information obtained from the Canada Revenue Agency, provincial and territorial motor vehicle registrars, and provincial electoral agencies with permanent voters lists. Additionally, over 150,000 individuals a year become naturalized Canadians, and are added to the National Register of Electors by Elections Canada based on information obtained from
Citizenship and Immigration Canada Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC; )Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program since 2015; the legal title is Department of Citizenship and Immigration (). is the depart ...
.


Canadian citizens abroad

The
Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...
's 2019 decision in '' Frank v Canada (AG)'' ruled that non-resident citizens have the right to vote regardless of time living outside of Canada. While Section Three of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms provides that "every citizen of Canada has the right to vote", in practice only those citizens 18 years of age or older who resided in Canada ''or'' had been abroad for fewer than five years were eligible to vote in federal elections from 1993 to 2019. The five-year limit was originally enacted as part of Bill C-114, ''An Act to Amend the Canada Elections Act'', in 1993; these amendments extended the special ballot to certain prisoners, and Canadians "living or travelling" abroad. Exemptions to the five-year limit existed for members of the
Canadian Armed Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...
, employees of the federal or a provincial government stationed abroad, employees of certain international organizations, and their cohabitants. Jean-Pierre Kingsley, then the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada for 15 years, explicitly recommended in his 2015 official post-election report that Parliament remove the five-year limit by amendment, but no action was taken. In May 2014, the
Ontario Superior Court of Justice The Superior Court of Justice (French: ''Cour supérieure de justice'') is a superior court in Ontario. The Court sits in 52 locations across the province, including 17 Family Court locations, and consists of over 300 federally appointed judges. ...
ruled in favour of Canadian expatriates Gillian Frank and Jamie Duong's claim that the five-year limit was an unconstitutional restriction on the
right to vote Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in ...
, in violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, leading to a period of fourteen months during which all Canadian expatriates could apply to be on the register of electors. However, the decision was reversed 2–1 on appeal at the
Court of Appeal for Ontario The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently mistakenly referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal) (ONCA is the abbreviation for its neutral citation) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Ha ...
on July 20, 2015, in a judicial opinion citing Canada's history of using a residence-based
electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
system and a justification based on
social contract In moral and political philosophy, the social contract is an idea, theory, or model that usually, although not always, concerns the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual. Conceptualized in the Age of Enlightenment, it ...
theory, which held that the five-year limit was a permissible limitation of the constitutional right to vote under Section One. In response to the appellate court ruling,
Elections Canada Elections Canada () is the non-partisan agency responsible for administering elections in Canada, Canadian federal elections and Referendums in Canada, referendums. History Elections Canada is an agency of the Parliament of Canada, and reports ...
implemented changes in August 2015 to require expatriates already on the register to declare an intended date of return. The decision from the Court of Appeal was subsequently appealed to the
Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...
, which announced on April 14, 2016, that it would hear the case. The court ultimately overturned the appellate court's decision, with the majority finding that "the disenfranchisement of long-term non-resident citizens not only denies them a fundamental democratic right, but also comes at the expense of their self-worth and their dignity."


Length of election campaigns

The length of election campaigns can vary, but under the Elections Act, the minimum length of a campaign is 36 days and the maximum length of the campaign is 50 days. Section 5 of the ''Charter'' also requires that the Parliament sit at least once every twelve months; therefore, a campaign would have to conclude in time for returns to be completed and parliament to be called into session within twelve months of the previous sitting. The federal election date must be set on a Monday (or Tuesday if the Monday is a statutory holiday). The first two elections, the 1867 election and the 1872 election, took place over several weeks. The 1872 election was both the second shortest and the longest campaign in history. Parliament was dissolved on July 8, 1872, while the writ was dropped on July 15, 1872. Voting occurred from July 20 to October 12. Therefore, the campaign started 12 days after dissolution of Parliament and 5 days after the writ, and was concluded 96 days (13 weeks plus 5 days) after dissolution and 89 days after the writ. Every subsequent election has occurred on a single day. Of these elections, the longest election campaign, in terms of days from dissolution to election day, was that of 1926 election, following the
King–Byng Affair The King–Byng affair, also known as the King–Byng Wing Ding, was a Canadian constitutional crisis that occurred in 1926, when the governor general of Canada, Lord Byng of Vimy, refused a request by the prime minister, William Lyon Mackenz ...
, which lasted 74 days. In terms of days from writ to election day, the longest campaign had been the 1980 election, which lasted 66 days. It was surpassed by the 2015 election, which was 78 days long from writ to election day, making it the longest campaign for a one-day election, exceeded in length only by that of 1872. Prior to the adoption of the minimum of 36 days in law, there were six elections that lasted shorter periods of time. The last of these was the 1904 election which occurred many decades before the minimum was imposed. In practice, the prime minister will generally keep a campaign as brief as is legal and feasible, because spending by parties is strictly limited by the Elections Act. The maximum spending by each party is increased by 1/37th of the maximum for each day that the campaign exceeds 37 days. The
1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...
,
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
and 2004 elections were all of the minimum 36 days in length which has led to a common misconception that elections ''must'' be 36 days long. However, prior to 1997, elections averaged much longer: aside from the 47-day campaign for the 1993 election and the 51-day campaign for the 1988 Election, the shortest election period after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
was 57 days and many were over 60 days in length. Much speculation had surrounded how long the campaign for the 39th federal election would be in 2006, especially as it became certain the election would be called in the weeks preceding Christmas 2005. The government of
Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian businessman, writer, and retired politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. He also served as Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada), leader of the ...
, which fell on December 13, 1979, recommended a campaign of 66 days for the resulting election, and nothing legal barred a similarly lengthened campaign. In the end, the 2006 election was called on November 29, 2005, for January 23, 2006 — making a 55-day-long campaign.


Provincial and territorial


System

All of Canada's provinces and territories use the same
plurality voting system Plurality voting refers to electoral systems in which the candidates in an electoral district who poll more than any other (that is, receive a plurality) are elected. Under single-winner plurality voting, and in systems based on single-member ...
used in federal elections (
First-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...
). However, since elections are monitored and organized by an independent provincial and territorial
election commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
, a province may legally change its
electoral system An electoral or voting system is a set of rules used to determine the results of an election. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections may take place in business, nonprofit organizations and inf ...
should its parliament wish to do so. This would not require permission from the federal government or the Parliament of Canada. Federal elections formerly used a mixture of first-past the-post and
plurality block voting Plurality block voting is a type of block voting method for multi-winner elections. Each voter may cast as many votes as the number of seats to be filled. The candidates with the most votes are elected. The usual result when the candidates div ...
; provincial elections formerly used a variety of electoral methods See "Electoral reform" below. In the ten provinces and
Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...
, elections are contested by candidates either representing political parties or running as independents. Territorial elections in the
Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...
and
Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...
are held on a fully non-partisan basis, due to those territories' use of a consensus government model.


Parties

All Canadian provinces and Yukon, have electoral systems dominated by major
political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
. In most provinces the leading parties are the same parties prominent at the federal level. However, the provincial party may or may not have an official affiliation with the federal party of the same name. Thus, names of provincial parties can sometimes be misleading when associating a provincial party with a national party, although the respective ideologies are usually fairly similar. The
Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...
has no provincial wings and none of the current provincial Progressive Conservative Parties are formally linked with the federal party as they all predate the 2003 establishment of the federal party, which resulted in the formal disbanding of the
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; ) was a Centrism, centre to centre-right List of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003. From Canadian Confederation in 1867 unti ...
. Some provincial parties (such as Alberta) formally broke off links with the federal party prior to the merger. In British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec the provincial Liberal parties are independent of the
Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...
, while in the other provinces, the provincial Liberal parties are autonomous entities that retain formal links with the federal party. All provincial wings of the
New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...
are fully integrated with the federal party, and members of the provincial party are automatically also members of the federal party. The
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...
has provincial counterparts that are directly affiliated but do not share membership or organizational structure and support. In
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
and
Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...
, the political parties, the
Saskatchewan Party The Saskatchewan Party (SP or Sask Party) is a conservative political party in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The party was founded in 1997 by a coalition of former provincial Progressive Conservative ...
and the Yukon Party, respectively, have no federal counterpart, although they are both ideologically conservative.


Results

The following table summarizes the results of the most recent provincial and territorial elections. A link to complete lists for each province and territory is below. The winning party is indicated in bold and by the coloured bar at the left of the table. This table shows the party standings as a result of the most recent election, and not the current representation in legislatures; refer to the articles on the individual houses for the current state. For lists of general elections in each province and territory, see the infobox at the bottom of the article. 1Note:
Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...
does not have political parties, and political parties in the
Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...
were disbanded in 1905. MLAs in both territories are elected as independents and the legislatures function under a consensus government model. 2Note: Provincial Liberal parties that are not affiliated with the federal Liberal Party of Canada.


Municipal

Municipal elections are held in Canada for the election of local governments. Most provinces hold all of their municipal elections on the same date. Candidates are elected through either
ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
or
at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...
systems, every two, three or four years, depending on the province.
Plurality block voting Plurality block voting is a type of block voting method for multi-winner elections. Each voter may cast as many votes as the number of seats to be filled. The candidates with the most votes are elected. The usual result when the candidates div ...
is used in at-large elections and where wards elect multiple members; otherwise
First past the post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...
is used. (London, Ontario did adopt
Instant-runoff voting Instant-runoff voting (IRV; ranked-choice voting (RCV), preferential voting, alternative vote) is a single-winner ranked voting election system where Sequential loser method, one or more eliminations are used to simulate Runoff (election), ...
but has been banned from using that system.) A minority of locations in Canada have local
political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
or election slates, while most locations elect only
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
s, or where the candidate has party ties, no party identification is allowed on the ballot.


Senate nominee (Alberta)


Adopted and attempted electoral reform

Canada is now the only major country in the world to use only
First past the post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...
in its federal and provincial elections. But in past times other systems were used or debated. By one count, at the provincial level there have been ten instances of electoral reform in Canadian history. All of them were achieved by passage of normal legislation, without referendum. There have been no instances in Canadian history of electoral reform being achieved after the holding of a referendum. Reforms and attempted reforms are outlined below.


Multiple-member districts replaced by single-member districts -- federal elections, all provinces, two territories various dates

At various times in the 19th and 20th centuries, federal elections and those held in every province used multi-member districts to elect all or some of its members. The systems used included
Block Voting Block or bloc voting refers to a class of electoral systems where multiple candidates are elected simultaneously. They do not guarantee minority representation and allow a group of voters (a voting bloc) to ensure that only their preferred candi ...
,
Single transferable voting The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vo ...
,
Limited voting Limited voting (also known as partial block voting) is a voting system in which electors have fewer votes than there are positions available. The positions are awarded to the candidates who receive the most votes. In the special case in which th ...
and a system where each seat was filled through a separate contest. Limited voting usually resulted in mixed multi-party representation, according representation to both the majority and at least the largest minority. STV resulted in mixed multi-party representation and every candidate that had quota were elected, thus every party with substantial backing in the district got some representation. Block voting in multi-member districts usually (but not always) produced one-party sweeps of the district's seats.Parliament Guide Now federal elections — and all provincial and territorial elections — use only single-member districts, a situation that came about through electoral reform.Parliamentary Guide Eleven ridings elected multiple MPs (two at a time) at one time or another, between 1867 and 1968. These were Ottawa, West Toronto, Hamilton, Halifax (NS), Cape Breton (NS), Pictou (NS), St. John City and County (NB), Victoria and three in PEI: King's County, Queen's County and Prince County.Parliament Guide All the provinces and territories (except Nunavut) once used multiple-member districts. Most of the multiple-member districts elected just two, but others elected 5 to 7 or more. Ten MLAs were elected in the Winnipeg district from 1920 to 1949. The provinces and territories switched to electing all their members in single-member districts elected through
First past the post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...
in these years: * Quebec
1867 There were only 354 days this year in the newly purchased territory of Alaska. When the territory transferred from the Russian Empire to the United States, the calendric transition from the Julian to the Gregorian Calendar was made with only 1 ...
* Ontario
1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...
* North-West Territories 1894 (see 1891 North-West Territories general election) * Yukon
1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...
* Manitoba 1954 * Alberta
1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...
* New Brunswick 1974 * Saskatchewan 1967 * Newfoundland and Labrador 1975 * Nova Scotia 1978 * BC
1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
* PEI
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
* (PEI's elections were special cases. Each district elected two members. At one time voters who owned property in the district voted for the Councilman while voters resident in the district joined with the property-owners to vote for the Assemblyman. Later the exact same voters were allowed to vote for each of the two members in a district but still each seat was filled in separate contest.)


1886, 1890 Ontario used Limited Voting in Toronto

Toronto's three MPPs were elected through
Limited voting Limited voting (also known as partial block voting) is a voting system in which electors have fewer votes than there are positions available. The positions are awarded to the candidates who receive the most votes. In the special case in which th ...
, where each voter could cast up to two votes. Later Toronto MPPs were elected in two-seat districts, with each seat elected separately through single-winner First Past The Post voting. This ended in 1926 when all the MPPs in the province began to be elected in single-member districts.


1909-1921 Alberta partially adopted Block Voting system

For the 1909, 1913 and 1921 election Alberta adopted multiple-member city-wide districts in one or both of the cities of Edmonton and Calgary. Alberta's two army representatives were elected in 1917 in one contest. Also in 1921, the city of Medicine Hat was a two-seat district. Voters cast multiple votes under the
Plurality block voting Plurality block voting is a type of block voting method for multi-winner elections. Each voter may cast as many votes as the number of seats to be filled. The candidates with the most votes are elected. The usual result when the candidates div ...
to elect MLAs.A Report on Alberta Elections


1914 Manitoba adopted multi-member districts, later brought in STV/FPTP then STV/IRV

In 1914, the three Winnipeg districts -- Winnipeg Centre, Winnipeg South and
Winnipeg North Winnipeg North () is a federal electoral district in Canada that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1917. It covers the northern portion of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Geography The riding includes the neighbourhoods of Jeff ...
— were each given a second member. Each seat was filled through a separate contest. The same system was used in the 1915 election. In 1920
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
was made into a ten-member city-wide Winnipeg (provincial electoral district), district. Manitoba began to use
Single transferable voting The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vo ...
in the new district. Later the province adopted Instant-runoff voting, Alternative Voting in single-member rural districts. In 1949 Winnipeg was divided into three four-seat districts. St. Boniface got a second member and switched from AV to STV to elect its MLAs.


1924 Alberta adopted STV/AV system

After the election of the United Farmers of Alberta in 1921, Alberta maintained its existing mixture of multi-member districts and single-member districts. In 1924 Alberta adopted
Single transferable voting The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vo ...
in the cities' multi-member districts and the
Instant-runoff voting Instant-runoff voting (IRV; ranked-choice voting (RCV), preferential voting, alternative vote) is a single-winner ranked voting election system where Sequential loser method, one or more eliminations are used to simulate Runoff (election), ...
system in single-member rural districts. (It was the first instance in North America where all the members in a legislature were elected through non-plurality methods.) This mixed system was in use until 1956. In 1956 the province brought in consistent single-member districts and
First past the post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...
elections. Medicine Hat reverted to being a single-member district before the 1930 election (IRV was then used there).


1922 House of Commons elections

Canadian MP William Charles Good introduced legislation in the House of Commons in June 1922 that would have seen
Instant-runoff voting Instant-runoff voting (IRV; ranked-choice voting (RCV), preferential voting, alternative vote) is a single-winner ranked voting election system where Sequential loser method, one or more eliminations are used to simulate Runoff (election), ...
used in each riding where more than two candidates were competing and he also called for demonstration multi-member districts in to provide experience of
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...
. However the bill was talked out and nothing was changed.


1952, 1953 BC elections used Instant-runoff voting electoral system

In 1952, BC adopted the Instant run-off voting, Alternative Voting system. It retained its mixture of single-member districts and multi-member districts. In the later, it held separate contests for each seat. History and use of the single transferable vote#British Columbia, preferential ballots was used for the first time in a BC general election. After 1953 election the province returned to its previous electoral system, a mixture of single-member and multi-member districts, of Block Voting and FPTP, which in turn was replaced by consistent FPTP single-member-district contests in 1990.


2004 Quebec proposed electoral reform

The Liberal government of Quebec proposed electoral reform in 2004, which was scheduled to be passed in the fall of 2006 without a referendum. The project was postponed due to divergent views on how to improve it.


2005 BC Single Transferable Vote referendum

In a 2005 referendum 57.7% of British Columbians voted in favour of the Single Transferable Vote system. However the government required a vote of 60% to pass the change, and the vote result was ignored.


2005 PEI Provincial MMP referendum

Prince Edward Island held a referendum in 2005 regarding the adoption of mixed member proportional representation. The motion was defeated.


2007 Ontario MMP referendum

A referendum was held in Ontario in 2007 on the question of whether to establish a mixed member proportional representation (MMP) system for elections to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The vote was strongly in favour of the existing plurality voting system, plurality voting or first-past-the-post (FPTP) system.


2008 New Brunswick referendum

A referendum on the issue of electoral reform in New Brunswick was proposed for 2008 by the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick, Progressive Conservative Party, but the party was defeated in the September 2006 election and the new Liberal government cancelled the vote.


2009 BC Proportional Representation Vote referendum

A referendum for the
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...
(PR) system was held in British Columbia on May 12, 2009. The adoption of PR was defeated, with 61% of voters preferring First past the post (FPTP) over Proportional Representation.


2015 federal election

In the 2015 federal election, both of the main opposition parties (the federal Liberals and NDP) promised to implement electoral reform no later than the next scheduled election. The NDP has long supported Mixed Member Proportional, a hybrid system proposed by the Law Commission in which voters would cast two ballots (one for a riding representative and one for their preferred party, with member elected from a regional and open list). By comparison, the Liberals led by Justin Trudeau promised to review numerous electoral reform options through an Canadian House of Commons Special Committee on Electoral Reform, "all party parliamentary committee" and to implement the changes in time for the next election. Trudeau promised to make the 2015 election "Canada's last First-past-the-post voting, first-past-the-post election". There are differences between the political parties over which alternative system would be better. 67% of Canadians voted in 2015 for parties that promised to replace the voting system. 88% of experts brought forward by the Liberal government recommended a proportional representation voting system; 96% rejected Trudeau's preferred
Instant-runoff voting Instant-runoff voting (IRV; ranked-choice voting (RCV), preferential voting, alternative vote) is a single-winner ranked voting election system where Sequential loser method, one or more eliminations are used to simulate Runoff (election), ...
system. On December 1, 2016, the all party Special Committee on Electoral Reform released its final report, recommending that the government design a system of proportional representation with a gallagher index score of 5 or less, and hold a Referendums in Canada, national referendum with that system against the current system. The Liberal members of the all party special-committee urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to break his promise to change Canada's voting system. On February 1, 2017, the new Liberal Minister of Democratic Institutions, Karina Gould, announced that Trudeau instructed her that a change of voting system would no longer be in her mandate. She claimed a lack of broad consensus among Canadians in favour of one particular type of electoral voting and that the various political parties could not agree on a new system as reasons for the abandonment of the 2015 election promise. On May 31, 2017, the House of Commons officially rejected the final report of the all party special-committee by a vote of 146–159, with the Conservatives, NDP, BQ, and Greens voting to concur in the report, and the Liberals voting not to, notably, two Liberal MPs, Sean Casey (Canadian politician), Sean Casey and Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Whip (politics), broke whip and voted to concur in the report. During the 2015 election campaign, the Liberal Party of Canada made a promise to implement a process to review the costs of campaign platforms in future elections. It was implemented within an omnibus bill passed in 2017, with responsibility assigned to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Parliamentary Budget Office.


2016 Prince Edward Island electoral reform referendum

The 2016 Plebiscite on Democratic Renewal was a non-binding
referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
held in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Prince Edward Island between October 27 – November 7, 2016. The referendum asked which of five voting systems residents would prefer to use in electing members to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The referendum was conducted using Instant runoff voting, and no option was the choice of a majority in the first count. After three options were eliminated due to being un-electable, mixed member proportional representation received more than 52% support on the final count. But government ignored the result, holding another referendum in 2019.


2018 British Columbia Electoral Reform Referendum

In accordance to campaign promises, the BC NDP (In a confidence and supply agreement with the Greens) scheduled a plebiscite to be held between October 22 and November 30, 2018, with voting done through mail for those registered to vote. 61.3% of voters voted for retaining First Past The Post.


2019 Prince Edward Island Electoral Reform Referendum

the 2019 referendum ended in defeat. On the question "Should Prince Edward Island change its voting system to a mixed member proportional voting system?", 52 percent voted against change while only 48 percent voted in favour. But neither side took a majority of votes in 60 percent of the districts so government did not consider it a clear decision. In 2021/2022, PEI again investigated switching away from the FPTP system.


2022 Quebec proposed electoral reform

CAQ François Legault was elected on a promise to reform the electoral system within a year of his victory in 2018. On September 25, 2019, Minister of Justice (Quebec), Minister of Justice Sonia LeBel presented Bill 39, ''An Act to establish a new electoral system'' which aims to replace the First-past-the-post voting, First-past-the-post electoral system in favour of a Mixed-member proportional system, mixed-member proportional representation system. According to the bill, the National Assembly of Quebec, National Assembly would have kept 125 members. Of the 125 members, 80 would have been elected by receiving a plurality of votes in single-member districts matching the 78 Quebec federal electoral districts, federal ridings with the addition of 2 unique districts: Îles-de-la-Madeleine (provincial electoral district), Îles-de-la-Madeleine and Ungava (electoral district), Ungava). The remaining 45 members would have been chosen according to their order in a regional party list. All 17 List of regions of Quebec, regions of Québec would have been guaranteed at least one MNA. Bill 39 was intended to be debated in the legislature before June 2021. The bill's implementation would have been contingent on popular support expressed in a referendum held on the same day as the general election. Was this referendum successful, then the first legislature to be elected under mixed-member proportional would have been the 44th, in October 2026 at the latest. On April 28, 2021, Justice Minister LeBel informed a legislative committee hearing that the government would not move forward with a referendum on electoral reform in 2022. LeBel blamed the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec, COVID-19 pandemic for altering the government's timeline and could not commit to providing an alternate date for the referendum, effectively ending discussions about electoral reform in Quebec.


See also

* Canadian electoral calendar * Canadian electoral system * Canadian House of Commons Special Committee on Electoral Reform * Democracy Day (Canada) * Electronic voting in Canada * Fair Vote Canada * Federal political financing in Canada * List of Canadian federal electoral districts * List of Canadian federal general elections * List of elections in the Province of Canada (pre-Confederation) * List of federal by-elections in Canada * List of political parties in Canada * Historical federal electoral districts of Canada * Referendums in Canada * Timeline of Canadian elections * Voter turnout in Canada * Longest Ballot Committee See also Electoral reform in Canada


Notes


References


Further reading

* Argyle, Ray, ''Turning Points: The campaigns that changed Canada, 2004 and before.'' (2004); Scholarly analysis of 15 major national and provincial elections from 1866 to 2004
online
* Duffy John. ''Fights of our Lives: Elections, Leadership, and the Making of Canada'' (Harper Collins, 2002); Popular coverage of all major elections 1867 to 1988; heavily illustrated
online
* Granatstein, J. L. ''Prime ministers: Ranking Canada's leaders'' (1999
online
evaluates all 20 prime ministers from 1867 to 1999.


External links


Elections CanadaCBC Digital Archives—Voting in Canada: How a Privilege Became a RightCBC Digital Archives—Campaigning for CanadaCanadian Governments Compared
*[http://www.election-atlas.ca/fed/ Canada Elections Atlas - Federal] * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elections In Canada Elections in Canada, Politics of Canada Government in Canada Political history of Canada Electoral reform in Canada