I have talked to multiple people over the years about Canada’s electoral process, and I have found that most Canadians have a surprising gap in their understanding of how it actually works.
So, how does a federal election actually work?
HOW ELECTIONS GET CALLED
The Canada Elections Act sets fixed election dates every four years, normally in the third week of October. However, the Prime Minister can dissolve Parliament at any time by asking the Governor General to do so.
This is called a snap election, and is what happened in early 2025 when Prime Minister Mark Carney called an election after winning the Liberal leadership race following Justin Trudeau’s resignation.
After an election is called, there must be a campaign period between 37 and 51 days before voting occurs.
In addition, federal elections are nearly always held on a Monday.
There are a few reasons why a government may decide to call a snap election, including but not limited to:
- Taking advantage of high polling numbers to gain a majority
- Breaking the political deadlock in Parliament
HOW VOTING WORKS
To be eligible to vote in Canada, you must fulfill a few criteria, including
- Be above the age of 18
- Must be a Canadian citizen
- Must be registered with Elections Canada either before or on election day
On election day, you have the option to vote at your assigned voting station. If you do not want to do this, you can also participate in advance polling, which is available during the days leading up to the election. You also have the choice to vote by mail.
One thing to note is that in Canada, you technically are not voting directly for the next Prime Minister. Instead, you are voting for the Member of Parliament in your riding. The party that wins the most seats in Parliament usually forms the government, and its leader becomes the Prime Minister
FIRST PAST THE POST
Canada uses the first-past-the-post system for federal elections.
This means that in each riding, the candidate with the most votes wins the seat, even if they do not receive more than 50% of the vote. This system has been heavily criticized over the years, as a governing party can have most of the country vote against it, while still forming government.
For example, in a riding where one candidate receives 35% of the vote, another receives 34%, and another receives 31%, the candidate with 35% would still win the seat even though most voters did not choose them.
For a party to form a majority government, it must win 172 out of the 343 seats in the House of Commons. This is especially important because a majority government does not have to rely on opposing parties as heavily to pass legislation through Parliament.
Multiple candidates and parties have promised electoral reform over the years, but Canada’s voting system has remained largely unchanged.
Canada’s electoral system is quite simple to participate in, but there is some confusion about how the process actually works due to the slightly more complicated inner workings of the system. I hope that from reading this, you have learned something new about the system, or at least cleared some doubt in your mind about what is going on.
