Procedure and House Affairs Committee on Nov. 18th, 2025

[The Chair, Liberal, Chris Bittle]

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 12 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3), the committee is meeting for its study of challenges regarding special ballot voting.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the Standing Orders. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application. I would ask all in-person participants to consult the guidelines written on the back of the cards on the table. These measures are in place to help audio and feedback incidents and to protect the health and safety of all participants, including our interpreters. There's a QR code. Check it out. There's a video for awareness on the subject.

I will make a few comments for the benefit of members. All comments should be addressed through the chair. Members on Zoom—there aren't any today—can raise their hand if they wish to speak.

[A voice]

One witness is on Zoom.

[The Chair, Liberal, Chris Bittle]

Yes, but they're not a member. They don't get to raise their hand to speak. If we'd like to deal with some Standing Order changes or some committee business changes, I'd be happy to deal with those.

I would like to now welcome our witnesses for today's meeting. We have Lucia Kovacikova, assistant professor of political science, and Professor Lori Turnbull, faculty of management at—I am so sorry, but it just seems so weird to say—Dalhousie University.

Welcome. You each have five minutes to make your opening statement.

Since you're in the room, Professor Turnbull, we'll start with you.

[Lori Turnbull, Professor, Faculty of Management, Dalhousie University, As an Individual]

Thank you very much.

When I moved to Ottawa and had to say “Dalhousie”, I couldn't. I really had to adjust to that, because if I didn't, people didn't know what I was talking about.

Thank you very much for having me today. I really appreciate that. I'll keep my comments very brief.

We know what special ballots are, of course. They require the voter to write in the name of the candidate they wish to vote for. The final list of candidates is posted on the Elections Canada website three weeks before election day, so voters can refer to that list when they're figuring out who to vote for.

Those who wish to use special ballots to vote by mail must apply to do so by the Tuesday before the election. Eligible voters will be sent a kit in the mail and must have ballots returned by election day. Canadians living abroad who wish to vote this way must register with the international register of electors. Once this is done, these voters do not need to apply to vote via special ballot with each election. They will receive the kit automatically, as soon as the campaign commences.

Elections Canada has already spoken about the issues that arose in the 2025 election with respect to some special ballots not being counted properly and not being in the right place at the right time. They have indicated that they will take measures to address this to ensure that it doesn't happen in the future. Beyond that, I would say there are at least two main challenges that could arise with special ballots, one being about tight timing and the other around judgment with respect to vote counting.

On the issue of timing, it's important that those who wish to vote via special ballot apply to do so as soon as possible, regardless of where they live. It strikes me that waiting until the Tuesday before voting day is not very much time at all. You're throwing in a risk that you're not going to get your ballot back in time. We need to make sure that voters are aware of these timelines and that they leave enough days to get the whole process over with so that their ballot gets in on time. These days, as we know, mail service faces disruptions and interruptions. We don't necessarily count on that. It can have unintended consequences.

On the issue of vote counting, special ballots perhaps require more interpretation than normal ballots, particularly if there's any judgment regarding how to decipher the voter's handwriting and therefore who they really intend to vote for. That said, it didn't seem to be a problem in the by-election in Battle River—Crowfoot, where a special ballot was used to avoid a long ballot with over 200 candidates, so it might not be an issue at all.

I'll leave it there. I look forward to the discussion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Chris Bittle]

Thank you so much.

Professor Kovacikova, you have five minutes, please.

[Lucia Kovacikova, Assistant Professor of Political Science, As an Individual]

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Lucia Kovacikova. I am an assistant professor of political science at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I'm also a very recent addition to the growing Canadian diaspora, which includes more than four million Canadians at this point, or just over 11% of the population.

In 2024, as part of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, I compiled a report for the office of the honourable Senator Yuen Pau Woo entitled “Canadians Abroad: Overview of Recent Research and Implications for Public Policy”. This report outlines a number of policy areas that affect Canadians abroad, including external voting—or special ballot voting, as it's sometimes known.

We know that citizens of advanced industrialized countries are very internationally minded. They often study, volunteer, work and live abroad. Canadians are no exception. As a result, countries have started to alter their policies to reflect these changes.

In 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada lifted the five-year residency limit on external voting, allowing all Canadians living abroad, no matter for how long, to cast a vote in federal elections. Other countries have done the same, including Great Britain, which passed its “votes for life” legislation in 2023.

There's also an appetite from the Canadian diaspora to participate in politics. According to Elections Canada, 57,440 Canadians abroad voted in the 45th general election in April. This is significantly more than the approximately 34,000 Canadians abroad who voted in 2019, or the approximately 11,000 who voted in 2015.

However, these statistics are consistently lower than the external voting numbers from other countries, including the United States. The real question is why. I believe one reason may be logistical. According to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, there are four types of external voting mechanisms: in-person voting, postal voting, voting by proxy and electronic voting. Of these, Canada employs only postal voting, which can lead to unreasonable timing constraints in cases of sudden elections and can be susceptible to postal disruptions.

I would like to echo the statements from the two witnesses who came to this committee on October 30. I also cast my vote in the latest federal election. The ballot came quite late in the process, and I decided to use a private carrier to try to return my ballot on time, paying $120 in the process. That is a significant price tag that not many others would be willing to pay. I also have no way of knowing if my ballot arrived on time or if it was counted.

Yet another reason may be informational. Citizens always have a personal responsibility for knowing the details of elections and voting options. However, I would argue that Canadians living abroad face the additional challenge of not being part of informational campaigns. For example, there is no centralized website dedicated to the Canadian diaspora and their questions. Unless individuals follow the Canadian government's social media accounts or visit special websites, they may not receive timely information about elections.

This informational disconnect only amplifies the responsibility of those living abroad to seek relevant and timely information about elections and also to familiarize themselves with the processes of voting, including adding their information to the international register of electors. We cannot discount the amount of time and energy it takes for a Canadian citizen living abroad to research their options and complete all required steps on time.

Another issue could be political. The diaspora is largely forgotten during political campaigns, and their concerns are not part of parties' agendas. To an extent this is completely understandable, but it creates a system where a segment of the voting population is not acknowledged. This can be contrasted with other systems where the overseas diaspora votes for their own member of parliament to represent their unique interests.

Lastly, I just want to highlight that this topic of the Canadian diaspora is relatively understudied, and existing data is often outdated. We would really benefit from having more research analyzing the diaspora, their views on external voting and their electoral preferences.

In conclusion, I believe there are parts of this debate that have relatively easy solutions. For example, consider alternative methods for external voting and create a centralized diaspora-focused website that could be a one-stop shop for all information the community might need.

Of course, the more difficult questions are structural. How can the democratic process be improved so that all Canadians who want to vote can do so, and how can Canada better shape its relationship with the diaspora?

Thank you so much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Chris Bittle]

Thank you so much.

We'll now turn to questions. We'll go first to the Conservatives with Mr. Cooper for six minutes, please.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Thank you to the witnesses.

Welcome back, Professor Turnbull. I'll turn to you.

You cited some logistical challenges with regard to special ballot voting for Canadians living abroad. I would submit that there may be another issue, which is a gap, and I'd be interested in your thoughts on that as it pertains to the application process.

The riding in which a Canadian living abroad votes is determined based on their last address before leaving Canada. The application for registration for Canadians living abroad requires proof of identity to establish Canadian citizenship, but nowhere in the application does it require a prospective elector to provide proof of their last place of residence in Canada.

Would you agree that the application process should be amended to require some form of proof of the last place of residence?

[Lori Turnbull]

I don't know why it wouldn't. I don't see how that would make it any more difficult, because the value is that you want to make sure Canadian citizens can vote. You don't want to do anything that would make it more difficult for someone who's eligible to have access to the ballot. If someone had recently moved outside the country, they might have readily available proof of where they last lived in Canada, but if they had moved a while ago, it might be harder for them to find that.

In the case of a student living with their parents, they wouldn't have a deed with their name on the house, so they might need to have proof. What would they provide as proof to show that they lived in Canada if there were no bills in their name?

We'd have to think through the logistics to make sure that nobody was denied the right, but apart from that, I don't see why we wouldn't require proof.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

I certainly take your point that there could be some challenges for Canadians who may not have lived in Canada for some time, but every elector who lives and votes in Canada has to provide either one piece of ID with their address or two pieces of ID with at least one that shows their address, or they must have someone vouch for them who must establish their address.

There seems to be a bit of inconsistency. I guess if you can't establish proof of your last place of residence, what is there to say there aren't electors who are, for example, randomly selecting ridings, strategically selecting ridings or selecting ridings for any number of reasons? That would seem to me to be a gap. There needs to be some sort of verification, because by law, it's not as if a Canadian living abroad can vote in any riding. By law, they can only vote in the riding they last had residence in.

[Lori Turnbull]

I agree with you. It seems like it's matching the requirements that would apply to someone who lives in Canada, making them basically the same for someone who lives outside Canada.

I remember it being part of the public discussion 10 years ago when this was going through the court system, and maybe fewer years ago than that. People were talking about where expats would vote, and it wasn't necessarily obvious. I remember this coming up: What if everybody wanted to vote in former prime minister Trudeau's riding because they knew his name and wanted to cast a ballot for him? There were policy discussions about the appropriate place to cast a ballot, especially if you haven't lived here for a long time.

I think you're right. I would agree with you.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Thank you for that.

Professor Kovacikova, is it correct that over the past 20 years, there has been a significant increase in voter participation by Canadians living abroad?

[Lucia Kovacikova]

Yes. In terms of actual numbers, more Canadians abroad vote in federal elections. I'm sure the 2019 Supreme Court ruling has quite a bit to do with that as well.

In terms of the percentage of people who request a ballot and actually cast it, the percentage has slowly gone down. I believe that in 2015, the percentage of people who requested a ballot and then cast a vote from abroad was 69%. That percentage has slowly gone down to I believe 52% as of 2025.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Yes, but it has significantly gone up since 2004, when I thought there was something in the order of 7,000 or 9,000 ballots cast. It was in the order of tens of thousands before the Supreme Court decision.

[Lucia Kovacikova]

Yes, I believe that in 2004 the number was around 10,000—it was 9,000 plus. Of course, we have to account for the fact that the number of Canadians living abroad is growing.

Over time, we have seen more and more Canadians vote, but if you look at the final number from the last election, which is 57,000 Canadians, it really depends on how you look at that. That number could be quite small when you look at the fact that over four million Canadians live abroad. It really depends on what you compare it to. Certainly, in terms of external votes cast by other nationals, Canadians abroad vote less than those in the United States, for example.

[The Chair, Liberal, Chris Bittle]

Thank you so much, Mr. Cooper.

We'll now turn to Madam Kayabaga for the Liberal Party for six minutes, please.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Welcome, Lori Turnbull and Dr. Kovacikova—I hope I said your name correctly.

Dr. Kovacikova, I want to go to you. You talked about how in this election, you mailed in your ballot. You got it a bit late and then used a private courier to make sure your ballot arrived on time.

Can you, if you are able to, share the associated costs of doing that?

[Lucia Kovacikova]

Yes. I really wanted to make sure it would get back to Canada overnight. That was, of course, my personal choice. Time was running out, and the deadline was fast approaching. I spent $120 to send my ballot.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Do you think there's an appetite from Canadians abroad to go extra lengths to make sure their ballot arrives on time? What reforms do you think need to be in place to ensure that ballots actually return on time without an extra associated cost to that?

I'll start with you, Ms. Kovacikova, and then we'll go to Ms. Turnbull after.

[Lucia Kovacikova]

My name is very long. I'm sorry about that, everyone.

I believe there is a relatively easy fix. Dr. Turnbull mentioned that there are certain time constraints in place at the moment. For example, if there was a way—as is the case for U.S. citizens who vote from abroad—to print out a ballot and send it, that would significantly reduce the amount of time it would need to spend going through the postal service, both there and back.

Do I think there is an appetite from Canadians living abroad to pay an additional cost to cast their ballot? I would say it really depends on the individual. I cannot imagine that a lot of people would be willing to pay $120 to cast a ballot. I am a political science professor, so I feel like I'm a very special case. I think it's very important for me to cast a ballot.

I want to very quickly mention the issue that, because we have a first-past-the-post system, it is pretty easy to determine how some ridings will go. I, myself, happen to be voting in a riding that is pretty much decided, so there is a question of whether my vote even matters. If I know how the riding is going to go, perhaps I didn't have to spend $120, but it was my personal choice to do so.

In the case of other Canadians who are seeing this—they see the polling and know that their riding is going to go one way or the other—they might not feel the need to even cast a ballot. It might be prohibitive for them when they know they might have to pay additional costs to get it in on time.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Thank you.

Dr. Turnbull, are there reforms that you think would aid in this situation? Obviously, the voter turnout for Canadians abroad is low. How can we encourage them to vote more?

[Lori Turnbull]

I think one thing we could think about doing, instead of having the requirement that we have the vote received by election day, is making sure that it is sent, posted and stamped by election day.

There's a Supreme Court case going on in the U.S. right now to that effect, because states, of course, make their own laws about this, and some states will allow a ballot that comes in late and some states won't. We're not the only one with this issue.

The same type of thing would apply to someone who lives in Canada and didn't get their vote in on time. We could think about having a bit of a grace period after election day just to make sure that the costs, for example, could be defrayed and you don't have to take extra steps and pay extra costs to make sure your vote gets in on time.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Can you explain why only 100,000 of the estimated three million Canadian voters who requested a ballot in the 2025 general election returned one? Only 100,000 were returned out of the three million that were requested. What do you think is the reason for that?

[Lori Turnbull]

There are probably a number of things. It's hard sometimes for people who are not right in the middle of it. They're not absorbing and receiving communications about the election all the time. For instance, for me anyway, when we're in Canada and we're in election time, there's coverage every day, and we're really focused on it. If you're living elsewhere, you won't get the same exposure to it, and you won't get the same reminders. You're certainly not going to get the same exposure to the candidates in your riding and the specific ways it's playing out in the riding where you'd vote, because you're not living in that community.

You can look at the writing on the wall and think that your vote is probably not going to make a difference in the riding. The same type of thing that could deter a Canadian living in Canada from voting could also apply in the international context in the sense that you might not feel that you're going to make a difference.

[The Chair, Liberal, Chris Bittle]

Thank you so much.

Welcome to the committee, Monsieur Deschênes.

You have the floor for six minutes.