What is the Canada Elections Act?

The Canada Elections Act is the federal statute that governs the conduct of federal elections, by-elections, and referendums in Canada. The Act establishes the rules for voter registration, the nomination of candidates, the registration of political parties and third parties, election-period spending and contribution limits, voter identification requirements, voting procedures, and the role of Elections Canada and the Commissioner of Canada Elections. The current Act, Statutes of Canada 2000, c. 9, replaced earlier versions and has been amended frequently since.

Major amendments include the 1970 Election Expenses Act amendments (which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, introduced the per-vote subsidy, and established initial spending limits), the 1974 Election Expenses Act (which strengthened transparency requirements), the 2003 Bill C-24 campaign finance reforms (which prohibited corporate and union donations to political parties), the 2007 Bill C-31 voter identification requirements, the 2014 Fair Elections Act (Bill C-23, which generated significant controversy over voter identification rules), the 2018 Elections Modernization Act (Bill C-76, which expanded mail-in voting and increased privacy protections), and the 2024 amendments increasing the security of elections.

The Act includes detailed provisions on campaign financing. Individual contribution limits are indexed annually (about $1,775 per political party and $1,775 per local candidate or constituency in 2025). Corporations, unions, and foreign entities cannot contribute to federal political parties. Election spending is limited (about $30 million per national party and about $135,000 per candidate per riding in 2025, with adjustments for the length of the election period). Third-party advertising is limited to about $570,000 nationally during an election (since 2018).

The Act is enforced by the Commissioner of Canada Elections (currently Caroline J. Simard, since January 2022), an independent officer who investigates election-law violations and can lay charges through the Public Prosecution Service of Canada. The Commissioner can also impose administrative monetary penalties for less serious violations. Notable recent enforcement matters include third-party financing investigations during the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, foreign election interference investigations following the 2019 and 2021 elections, and various political-party financing matters.