Federal Elections 101: What Actually Happens During a Federal Election

General Terminology:

• Riding: The voting regions, in which individual representatives are elected, forming the legislature (1).
• Governor General: Acts as the representative of the British monarchy in what is currently Canada. What is currently Canada is a constitutional monarchy, and while the Queen plays no real role in our democracy nor our parliament anymore, the Governor General acts as their representative. For this reason, they hold important powers such as officially commencing elections since these orders previously required Britain’s approval (1).
• Chief Electoral Officer: “Responsible for the administration of elections, referendums and other important aspects of our electoral system” (2). They are independent of the government and all political parties, and report directly to Parliament (2).
• Writs: Formal documents drafted by the Chief Executive Officer and sent to the Election Officers each riding, indicating that they should start an election (3)

Elections are scheduled for the third Monday of October in the fourth calendar year following the previous election but can occur sooner in either of the following cases (3):

• The Governor General can dissolve parliament on the advice of the Prime Minister and set the election date (3). The Canada Elections Act (section 57) specifies that election period can last a minimum of 36 days and a maximum of 50 days (4).
• The current government can be made to resign and parliament dissolves via a failed confidence vote, in which the governing party loses the support of the representatives House of Commons, expressed in the failed passing of a confidence motion (4). Confidence motions include: motions that specifically say that the House of Commons does or does not have confidence in the government, motions made confidence votes by the government, proposed budgets, the government’s reply to the throne speech, and motions from the opposition proposing changes to legislation or explicit motions of non-confidence (4).

Stages of an Election:

1. Pre-Writ Period: The time leading up to the commencement of an election period in which parties start behaving as if the next election is impending (1).
2. Dissolution of Parliament: The Governor General dissolves parliament on the advice of the Prime Minister and directs the Chief Executive Officer to issue the writs (5).
3. Dropping the Writs: The writs are dropped by the Chief Executive Officer, formally telling “the election officers in each riding to hold an election” (5).
4. Nomination of Candidates: Political parties choose their candidates for each riding after the writs are dropped (5). Candidates can run as independents without party affiliation (5).
5. Campaigning: The campaign period is anywhere from 36 to 50 days long and consists of candidates encouraging voters to vote for them (5).

6. Voting: Eligible citizens vote for the representative of their choosing to represent their riding in the House of Commons. Voting happens via advance polls, by mail, on election day, or at an Elections Canada office (5). For more details on being an informed voter, including how to make sure you’re registered, click here.

7. After the Vote: Votes are counted and validated, the winning candidate is established based on which party wins the most ridings, the election concludes and parliament resumes. (5)

For more information on the formation of government following an election click here.