Am I Eligible to Vote?

In order to vote in a federal election in Canada you must be: 

• 18 years of age or older
• A Canadian citizen (1)

When you cast your ballot, you will have to provide some form of ID that proves that you are a resident of the riding in which you are voting. See the list of the possible forms of ID you can use here.

Voter Registration

You must be registered in order to vote (1). While you can register the day you cast your ballot at your local Elections Canada office or voting location, if you are registered prior to election day, you’ll receive a voter information card in the mail with information about where and when you can vote (1)! 

Your Options for Voting in the 2025 Federal Election 

Election Day is Monday April 28th, 2025 (2)

But this isn’t the only time or way you can vote: 

Advanced Voting: you can vote in advance on April 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st, 2025 (2)

Not going to be in Canada or your home riding on Election Day?

Vote-by-mail: register to vote by mail by 6pm Eastern Time Tuesday April 22nd, 2025  and make sure your ballot has been received by 6pm Eastern Time on Monday April 28th, 2025, as ballots received after this time will not be counted (5).  

Canadians who live abroad can find more information here.

Vote on Campus: students can vote on select university and college campuses April 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th (2)

How do Federal Elections Work in Canada?

Federal elections are triggered by the Governor General at the advice of the Prime Minister (7). Federal elections are scheduled in the Canada Elections Act for the third Monday in October four years following the previous federal election (7). The call for a federal election can come anytime before the fixed date in October, including as a result of a non-confidence motion. You can read more about confidence motions here.

Federal Election Steps 

1. 1. To start the federal election process, the Governor General will instruct Elections Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer to “drop the writs”, connecting with the electoral officer of each riding to start an election (8). So rather than 1 massive election, there will actually be 343 simultaneous elections happening. 
   2. After the writs drop, political parties will select their candidates to run in each riding (8). Candidates are also able to run as “independent” or with “no affiliation” (8).
   3. Campaigning begins as candidates and parties share and promote their platform of promises and policy commitments (8). They will also engage with voters through television and radio ads, social media posts, street signs, and canvassing in neighbourhoods.
      •  There are also two leadership debates, one in each official language, organized by the Leaders’ Debate Commission between invited leaders of major political parties (9). Some ridings will have candidate debates organized locally as well.
   4. Votes are cast and ballots are counted to determine the winning representative in each riding, and the overall winning party (8). During federal elections ballots are counted by hand by elections workers, rather than using automatic ballot counters (10). 

Click here to learn more about how a federal election works.

Possible Results

Majority Government: 

If a party wins more than half of the ridings/seats (172 out of 343), then they will form a majority government (11). This gives the government more stability as they have the majority of decision-making power to pass legislation, and they are more likely to last until the next fixed election date (11). 

Minority Government: 

If no party wins over half the seats, then the party who obtains the most seats will form a minority government (11). Minority governments typically result in more intergovernmental collaboration as the governing party will need support from other parties in order to obtain the majority support needed to pass bills or motions (11). Minority governments also tend to have less stability, they can fall to confidence motions (11). 

Click here to learn more about the history of federal minority governments in so-called Canada.

Coalition Government: 

Parties can form government together, resulting in a coalition government, though these are incredibly rare in Canada (11). Minority governments can and have entered informal agreements with other parties, but this is distinctly different from forming a government together in a coalition (11).

How Does my Vote Apply? 

First Past the Post: 

We currently have a first past the post electoral system. For a federal election, the electoral system applies in two ways: 

In each riding: the candidate who receives the most votes wins a seat in the House of Commons (12)

To form government: the party that wins the most seats/ridings will lead as the governing party (12)

Strategic Voting: 

One of the biggest flaws of the first-past-the-post electoral system is that it fosters a political environment in which voters feel more inclined to vote strategically in order to guarantee a loss for a party they don’t want to see in power, rather than voting for the representative they most want to see win.

Electoral Reform: 

Another commonly discussed issue with first past the post, is the fact that it can potentially leave a lot of voters unrepresented in government because only the candidate with the most votes wins a seat. For example, in the 2025 Ontario provincial election, in the riding of Burlington, the top two candidates received just over 24,000 votes each, with only 40 votes separating them (13). A first past the post electoral system means that only one of these candidates gets to represent the riding in government, which leaves quite a lot of voters unrepresented. 

This has left organizers calling for reforms to the current electoral system, such as the election of multiple representatives per riding to the government, or the implementation of a ranked ballot that would allow voters to rank their candidates in order of preference (14). There are quite a few options for what our electoral system can look like, and it is our job as voters to call on our government to create a system that better represents our votes. 

Ultimately even if the candidate you vote for doesn’t win, your vote still demonstrates to candidates and parties what issues matter most to your community, which can influence what kind of issues are addressed in government and added to future party platforms.