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

Marginal note:Listing requests

• 49 (1) Any person may at any time request the Chief Electoral Officer to include him or her in the Register of Electors or Register of Future Electors, by providing

  • (a) a signed certification that he or she is qualified as an elector or as a future elector, as the case may be;

  • (b) his or her surname, given names, gender, date of birth, civic address and mailing address; and

  • (c) satisfactory proof of identity.

• Marginal note:Optional information

  (2) In addition to the information referred to in subsection (1), the Chief Electoral Officer may invite the elector or future elector to give any other information that the Chief Electoral Officer considers necessary to implement any agreements entered into under section 55, but the elector or future elector is not required to do so.

Marginal note:Corrections

50 An elector or future elector may inform the Chief Electoral Officer of changes to the information in the Register of Electors or Register of Future Electors, as the case may be, relating to him or her, and the Chief Electoral Officer shall make the necessary corrections to the relevant register.

Marginal note:Verification

51 The Chief Electoral Officer may

• (a) contact an elector or future elector to verify the Chief Electoral Officer’s information relating to him or her; and

• (b) request the elector or future elector to confirm, correct or complete the information within 60 days after receiving the request.

Marginal note:Deletion of names

• 52 (1) The Chief Electoral Officer shall delete from the Register of Electors or Register of Future Electors the name of any person who

  • (a) is dead;

  • (b) is not an elector or future elector, as the case may be, subject to subsection 44(4);

  • (c) requests in writing to have his or her name deleted;

  • (d) is, by reason of mental incapacity, under a court-ordered protective regime, including guardianship, tutorship or curatorship, and whose authorized representative under the regime requests in writing that the person’s name be deleted; or

  • (e) is a future elector with a mental incapacity whose parent requests in writing that the future elector’s name be deleted.

• Marginal note:Conditions

  (1.1) A person’s name may be deleted under paragraph (1)(d) only if the authorized representative has provided the Chief Electoral Officer with a copy of the court order and satisfactory proof of that representative’s identity.

• Marginal note:Deletion of name — discretionary

  (2) The Chief Electoral Officer may delete from the Register of Electors or Register of Future Electors the name of any person who fails to comply with a request referred to in paragraph 51(b) within the 60 days.

Marginal note:Restrictions

• 53 (1) If an elector so requests the Chief Electoral Officer in writing, information in the Register of Electors relating to that elector shall be used only for federal electoral or referendum purposes.

• Marginal note:Restriction — Register of Future Electors

  (2) If a future elector so requests the Chief Electoral Officer in writing, information in the Register of Future Electors relating to the future elector shall be used only for the purposes of

  • (a) updating the Register of Electors; or

  • (b) the transmission of information in the course of public education and information programs implemented under subsection 18(1).

Marginal note:Access to personal information

54 At the written request of an elector or future elector, the Chief Electoral Officer shall send him or her all the information in the Chief Electoral Officer’s possession relating to him or her.

Agreements on Giving Information

Marginal note:Provincial bodies

• 55 (1) The Chief Electoral Officer may enter into an agreement with any body responsible under provincial law for establishing a list of electors or future electors, governing the giving of information contained in the Register of Electors or Register of Future Electors, or the giving of information referred to in subsection 44(2) or (3) that the Chief Electoral Officer intends to include in either register, if that information is needed for establishing such a list.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (1.1) Despite subsection (1), the Chief Electoral Officer shall not enter into an agreement governing the giving of information contained in the Register of Future Electors, or the giving of information referred to in subsection 44(2) or (3) in relation to future electors, with any body that is required under provincial law to give or to make available to political parties, entities associated with a political party or members of a legislature information relating to future electors.

• Marginal note:Conditions

  (2) The Chief Electoral Officer shall include in the agreement conditions regarding the use and protection of personal information given under the agreement.

• (3) [Repealed, 2007, c. 21, s. 9]

• Marginal note:Valuable consideration

  (4) An agreement mentioned in subsection (1) may require valuable consideration to be provided in exchange for the information given.

Prohibitions

Marginal note:Prohibitions

56 No person shall

• (a) knowingly make a false or misleading statement, orally or in writing, relating to their qualification as an elector or as a future elector or relating to any other information referred to in section 49;

• (b) knowingly make a false or misleading statement, orally or in writing, relating to another person’s qualification as an elector or as a future elector, to that other person’s surname, given names, gender, civic address or mailing address, or to the identifier assigned to that other person by the Chief Electoral Officer, for the purpose of having that other person’s name deleted from the Register of Electors or Register of Future Electors, as the case may be;

• (c) request the listing in the Register of Electors or Register of Future Electors of the name of a person who is not qualified as an elector or as a future elector, as the case may be, knowing that the person is not so qualified;

• (d) knowingly apply to have included in the Register of Electors or Register of Future Electors the name of an animal or thing;

• (e) knowingly use personal information that is obtained from the Register of Electors except as follows:

  • (i) to enable registered parties, members or candidates to communicate with electors in accordance with section 110,

  • (ii) for the purposes of the administration and enforcement of this Act or the Referendum Act, or

  • (iii) in accordance with the conditions included in an agreement made under section 55, in the case of information that is transmitted in accordance with the agreement,

• (e.1) knowingly use personal information that is obtained from the Register of Future Electors except as follows:

  • (i) for the purposes of updating the Register of Electors,

  • (ii) for the purposes of the transmission of information in the course of public education and information programs implemented under subsection 18(1),

  • (iii) for the purposes of the administration and enforcement of this Act or the Referendum Act, or

  • (iv) in accordance with the conditions included in an agreement made under section 55, in the case of information that is transmitted in accordance with the agreement; or

• (f) knowingly use other personal information that is transmitted in accordance with an agreement made under section 55 except in accordance with the conditions included in the agreement.

PART 5Conduct of an Election

Date of General Election

Marginal note:Powers of Governor General preserved

• 56.1 (1) Nothing in this section affects the powers of the Governor General, including the power to dissolve Parliament at the Governor General’s discretion.

• Marginal note:Election dates

  (2) Subject to subsection (1), each general election must be held on the third Monday of October in the fourth calendar year following polling day for the last general election, with the first general election after this section comes into force being held on Monday, October 19, 2009.

Marginal note:Alternate day

• 56.2 (1) If the Chief Electoral Officer is of the opinion that a Monday that would otherwise be polling day under subsection 56.1(2) is not suitable for that purpose, including by reason of its being in conflict with a day of cultural or religious significance or a provincial or municipal election, the Chief Electoral Officer may choose another day in accordance with subsection (4) and shall recommend to the Governor in Council that polling day be that other day.

• Marginal note:Publication of recommendation

  (2) If the Chief Electoral Officer recommends an alternate day for a general election in accordance with subsection (1), he or she shall without delay publish in the Canada Gazette notice of the day recommended.

• Marginal note:Making and publication of order

  (3) If the Governor in Council accepts the recommendation, the Governor in Council shall make an order to that effect. The order must be published without delay in the Canada Gazette.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (4) The alternate day must be either the Tuesday immediately following the Monday that would otherwise be polling day or the Monday of the following week.

• Marginal note:Timing of proclamation

  (5) An order under subsection (3) shall not be made after August 1 in the year in which the general election is to be held.

Writs of Election

Marginal note:General election — proclamation

• 57 (1) The Governor in Council shall issue a proclamation in order for a general election to be held.

• Marginal note:By-election — order

  (1.1) The Governor in Council shall make an order in order for a by-election to be held.

• Marginal note:Contents

  (1.2) The proclamation or order shall

  • (a) direct the Chief Electoral Officer to issue a writ to the returning officer for each electoral district to which the proclamation or order applies;

  • (b) fix the date of issue of the writ; and

  • (c) fix the date for voting at the election, which date must be no earlier than the 36th day and no later than the 50th day after the day on which the writ was issued.

• Marginal note:General election

  (2) In the case of a general election,

  • (a) the date of issue of the writ shall be the same for all electoral districts;

  • (b) polling day shall be the same for all electoral districts; and

  • (c) the proclamation shall fix a date for the return of the writ to the Chief Electoral Officer, which date shall be the same for all of the writs.

• Marginal note:Election held on a Monday

  (3) Subject to subsection (4) and section 56.2, polling day shall be on a Monday.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (4) In the case of a general election that is not held on a day set in accordance with subsection 56.1(2) or section 56.2, if, in the week in which the election is to be held, the Monday is a holiday, polling day shall be held on the Tuesday of that week.

• Marginal note:Times when polling day is a Tuesday

  (5) If the day fixed for the vote is a Tuesday because of subsection (4) or section 56.2, any time period specified under this Act before or after polling day is to be calculated as if polling day were the Monday.