Elections Modernization Act (S.C. 2018, c. 31)
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Assented to 2018-12-13
2000, c. 9Canada Elections Act (continued)
366 Section 535 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Report on proposed legislative amendments
535 The Chief Electoral Officer shall, as soon as possible after a general election, make a report to the Speaker of the House of Commons that sets out any amendments that, in his or her opinion, are desirable for the better administration of this Act, and that also sets out, separately, any amendments that are set out in the Commissioner’s report under section 537.2.
367 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 537:
Report of Commissioner
Marginal note:Annual report
537.1 The Commissioner shall, as soon as possible after the end of each year, publish, in the manner and form that he or she considers appropriate, a report on the activities of his or her office during that year. The Commissioner shall not include the details of any investigation.
Marginal note:Report on proposed legislative amendments
537.2 The Commissioner shall, as soon as possible after a general election, make a report to the Chief Electoral Officer that sets out any amendments that, in the Commissioner’s opinion, are desirable for better compliance with, and the better enforcement of, this Act.
368 Subsection 538(5) of the English version of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Institutions
(5) A returning officer may, with the approval of the Chief Electoral Officer, constitute polling divisions that consist of two or more institutions where seniors or persons with a disability reside.
369 Subsection 539(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Time
(2) No amendment to the list of electoral districts set out in Schedule 3 may be made later than seven days after the day on which a representation order comes into force and no such amendment becomes effective until notice of it has been published in the Canada Gazette.
369.1 The Act is amended by adding the following before section 540:
Marginal note:Reference
539.1 In section 540, a reference to the Register of Electors includes a reference to the Register of Future Electors.
Marginal note:2014, c. 12, s. 118
370 Subsection 541(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Inspection of instructions and other reports
541 (1) All documents referred to in section 359, 432, 437, 475.4, 476.75, 477.59 or 478.8, all other reports or statements, other than election documents received from election officers, all instructions issued by the Chief Electoral Officer under this Act and all decisions by him or her on points arising under this Act are public records and may be inspected by any person on request during business hours.
371 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 541:
Marginal note:Statements of electors who exercise their right to vote
541.1 The Chief Electoral Officer shall, within 180 days after the return of the writ, make available in electronic form, or in formats that include electronic form, to each candidate and to each registered party that endorsed a candidate in an electoral district a statement, prepared using documents prepared under paragraph 162(i.1), of electors who exercised their right to vote in the electoral district on polling day who can be identified using those documents.
372 Section 549 of the Act and the heading before it are replaced by the following:
Solemn Declarations and Affidavits
Marginal note:Administration of solemn declarations and affidavits
549 (1) Solemn declarations and affidavits referred to in this Act are to be received by the person who by this Act is expressly required to receive them and, if there is no such person, then by the Chief Electoral Officer or a person designated by him or her in writing, a judge, an election officer, a unit election officer as defined in section 177, a notary public, a provincial court judge, a justice of the peace or a commissioner for taking oaths in the province.
Marginal note:No fees for solemn declaration or affidavit
(2) All solemn declarations and affidavits received under this Act are to be received free of charge.
Marginal note:Making false declaration in solemn declaration or affidavit
(3) No person shall make a false declaration in a solemn declaration or affidavit that is provided for by this Act.
Marginal note:Compelling or inducing false declaration
(4) No person shall compel, induce or attempt to compel or induce any other person to make a false declaration in a solemn declaration or affidavit that is provided for by this Act.
Marginal note:Solemn declaration — voting
549.1 (1) For the purposes of subsections 143(3) and (3.2), sections 144 and 147 and paragraphs 161(1)(b) and 169(2)(b), the solemn declaration by which an elector proves his or her identity and residence, proves his or her residence only, proves that he or she is qualified as an elector or proves that he or she has not previously voted at the election shall be in the prescribed form, which shall include the statements that
(a) the elector resides at the address at which he or she claims to reside;
(b) the elector is 18 years of age or older or will be 18 years of age or older on polling day;
(c) the elector is a Canadian citizen; and
(d) the elector has not previously voted in the election and is not an elector to whom section 235 applies.
Marginal note:Solemn declaration — vouching for another elector
(2) For the purposes of paragraph 143(3)(b) and subparagraphs 161(1)(b)(ii) and 169(2)(b)(ii), the solemn declaration by which an elector vouches for another elector shall be in the prescribed form, which shall include the statements that
(a) the other elector resides in a polling division assigned to the polling station;
(b) to the best of the elector’s knowledge, the other elector has not previously voted at the election;
(c) the elector knows the other elector;
(d) the elector is a Canadian citizen when the other elector votes;
(e) except in a case referred to in subsection 143(3.01), 161(2) or 169(2.01), the elector has not previously vouched for any other elector at the election; and
(f) the elector has not been vouched for by another elector at the election.
373 Paragraph 553(b) of the Act is replaced by the following:
(b) the remuneration paid to a person engaged or employed under section 20, any remuneration paid to staff referred to in section 19 for overtime work to enable the Chief Electoral Officer to exercise his or her powers and perform his or her duties and functions under this Act and any administration expenses that are incurred for that purpose;
374 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 554:
Judicial Review
Marginal note:When respondent is Chief Electoral Officer
555 (1) If an application is made for judicial review of a decision of the Chief Electoral Officer, or of any person to whom the Chief Electoral Officer has delegated any of his or her powers, duties and functions, the Chief Electoral Officer is the respondent in respect of the application.
Marginal note:When respondent is Commissioner
(2) If an application is made for judicial review of a decision of the Commissioner, the Commissioner is the respondent in respect of the application.
375 Schedule 1 to the Act is replaced by the Schedule 1 set out in the schedule to this Act.
Marginal note:2000, c. 9, Sch. 3; 2002, c. 7, s. 95; Canada Gazette Part I, Extra Volume 138, No. 5; Canada Gazette Part I, Extra Volume 149, No. 2
376 Schedule 3 to the Act is amended by replacing “Western Arctic”, under the heading “Northwest Territories”, with “Northwest Territories”.
Marginal note:2014, c. 12, s. 126
377 (1) Paragraph 18(d) of Schedule 4 to the Act is replaced by the following:
(d) the judge shall, in the Recount Ballot Box Report, indicate in writing the determination with respect to each disputed ballot and complete the judge’s disposition portion of the report;
Marginal note:2014, c. 12, s. 126
(2) Paragraph 18(g) of Schedule 4 to the Act is replaced by the following:
(g) the judge shall sign the Recount Ballot Box Report, which shall be given, with the judge’s disposition noted on it, to the person responsible for the preparation of the Master Recount Report along with the original statement of the vote.
R.S., c. P-1Parliament of Canada Act
Marginal note:1996, c. 35, s. 87.1
378 Section 31 of the Parliament of Canada Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1):
Marginal note:Exception
(1.1) Despite subsection (1), no writ for the election of a member of the House shall be issued if the vacancy occurs in the House of Commons less than nine months before the date fixed under subsection 56.1(2) of the Canada Elections Act for the holding of a general election.
2003, c. 22, ss. 12 and 13Public Service Employment Act
Marginal note:2007, c. 21, s. 40
379 Section 50.1 of the Public Service Employment Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Exception — Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
50.1 Despite subsection 50(2), the maximum period of employment of casual workers appointed in the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer — including the portions of the federal public administration in that Office in which the employees referred to in section 509.3 of the Canada Elections Act occupy their positions — for the purposes of an election held under that Act or a referendum held under the Referendum Act is 165 working days in one calendar year.
Transitional Provisions
Marginal note:Words and expressions — Canadian Forces electors
380 (1) Words and expressions used in sections 381 and 382 have the same meaning as in section 177 of the Canada Elections Act, as it read immediately before the day on which section 134 of this Act comes into force.
Marginal note:Words and expressions — electors resident outside Canada
(2) Words and expressions used in section 383 have the same meaning as in section 177 of the Canada Elections Act, as it read immediately before the day on which section 153 of this Act comes into force.
Marginal note:Words and expressions — other cases
(3) Words and expressions used in sections 384 to 389 have the same meaning as in subsection 2(1) of the Canada Elections Act, as it read immediately before the day on which the section in question comes into force.
Marginal note:Deemed place of ordinary residence
381 (1) For the purpose of subsection 8(1) of the Canada Elections Act, on the day on which section 134 of this Act comes into force, the place of ordinary residence of a person referred to in paragraph 191(a), (c) or (d) of the Canada Elections Act, as it read immediately before that day, who has made a statement of ordinary residence that has been validated before that day in accordance with paragraph 196(2)(a) of that Act, as it read immediately before that day, is deemed to be the place of ordinary residence identified by that person in their statement of ordinary residence.
Marginal note:Retention of validated statement
(2) The commanding officer of the unit in which the person is serving shall retain the validated statement of ordinary residence referred to in subsection (1) for a period of two years after the day on which section 134 of this Act comes into force.
Marginal note:Statements to be destroyed
(3) Subject to subsection (2), the commanding officer may destroy any original or copy of a statement of ordinary residence that was filed with the unit.
Marginal note:Right to register — Register of Electors
382 (1) Each commanding officer shall, without delay after the day on which section 134 of this Act comes into force, inform every person who serves in his or her unit and is entitled to vote in accordance with section 191 of the Canada Elections Act of the right to ask the Chief Electoral Officer to include the person in the Register of Electors, as defined in subsection 2(1) of that Act, or, if already included in it, to ask for their registration to be updated.
Marginal note:Right to register — Register of Future Electors
(2) Each commanding officer shall, without delay after the day on which section 134 of this Act comes into force, inform every person who serves in his or her unit and is qualified as a future elector, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Canada Elections Act, of the right to ask the Chief Electoral Officer to include the person in the Register of Future Electors, as defined in that subsection.
Marginal note:Electors resident outside Canada
383 If, before the day on which section 153 comes into force, an application for registration and special ballot is made under Division 3 of Part 11 of the Canada Elections Act but no decision has been made in respect of it, it is deemed to have been made under that Division as it reads on that day.
Marginal note:Coming into force during election period
384 (1) If section 1 comes into force during an election period, the Canada Elections Act, as it read immediately before the day on which that section comes into force, applies with respect to that election and all related obligations and rights, including obligations to report and rights to reimbursement of election expenses.
Marginal note:Prior elections
(2) All obligations and rights arising out of any election that took place before the day on which section 1 comes into force and that are still outstanding on that day, including obligations to report and rights to reimbursement of election expenses, are subject to the Canada Elections Act as it read immediately before the day on which the writ is issued for that election.
Marginal note:Bill C-50
(3) Despite subsection (1), if Bill C-50, introduced in the 1st session of the 42nd Parliament and entitled An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act (political financing) (in this subsection referred to as the “other Act”) receives royal assent, and if the other Act comes into force before the day on which section 1 comes into force but both the other Act and that section come into force during the same election period, then the Canada Elections Act, as it read immediately before the day on which the other Act comes into force, applies with respect to that election and all related obligations and rights, including obligations to report and rights to reimbursement of election expenses.
Marginal note:Registered parties — financial reporting
385 For the fiscal period of a registered party during which section 268 comes into force, the Canada Elections Act, as it read immediately before the day on which that section comes into force, applies with respect to the documents that the registered party is to provide in relation to its financial transactions for that fiscal period.
Marginal note:Registered associations — financial reporting
386 For the fiscal period of a registered association during which section 272 comes into force, the Canada Elections Act, as it read immediately before the day on which that section comes into force, applies with respect to the documents that the registered association is to provide in relation to its financial transactions for that fiscal period.
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