Evidence of meeting #14 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was ballots.
A video is available from Parliament.
Special Voting Rules Administrator, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
We do at the application level, absolutely.
Chief Electoral Officer, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
Once it's verified at the application level, there's a match with the bar code, and we know it's the same envelope. There's a signature and a name. If members would be interested in visiting the premises at Coventry, I would be very happy to host a visit. It's all under cage and chain.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Chris Bittle
We do love field trips, but we have to get House approval. That's something we can discuss during our next committee business.
Thank you, Mr. Van Popta.
I am arbitrarily giving everyone an extra minute, including Mr. Van Popta, who had six minutes.
Madame Brière is next.
Liberal
Élisabeth Brière Liberal Sherbrooke, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank the three witnesses for being here. I'd also like to thank them for their availability, since they have appeared as witnesses in the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs a few times recently.
In the “Report on the 45th General Election of April 28, 2025”, which you sent to us, you indicate that only 56.5% of international voters' ballots were received on time and counted. I have three more specific questions about that.
Do you know how many ballots were received on the same day but after 6 p.m.?
Do you know how many ballots were received the day after election day?
Do you know how many ballots were received in the following five days?
Chief Electoral Officer, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
We have that data. It would be my pleasure to send it to the committee. It shows that, for international voters, the receipt of ballots follows a downward curve that extends over a little more than a week. For domestic voters who vote outside the riding by mailing their ballots to headquarters, that curve extends really over three or four days.
That means that there's a difference between the two, and we have that data.
Liberal
Élisabeth Brière Liberal Sherbrooke, QC
Thank you for sending it to us.
Some witnesses have suggested allowing more time for international ballots to reach you. That would obviously delay the announcement of the election results. I'd like to know what you think of that suggestion.
Chief Electoral Officer, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
It would indeed delay the announcement of the results. A number of countries do that. Here in Canada, British Columbia does that. However, in cases where the votes are close, it can increase tensions about the election results, concerns and sometimes even conspiracy theories. As a result, it isn't something I have recommended in the past.
However, I have recommended giving an extra week at the start of the election, when the election doesn't have a fixed date. That would have the same effect. There's less of a problem in a fixed-date election, because voters are better able to plan their vote. When there isn't a fixed date, if the idea is to add time, I would put it at the beginning of the election period, not at the end.
Liberal
Élisabeth Brière Liberal Sherbrooke, QC
The fact that there aren't fixed election dates has indeed been brought up regularly, as has the issue of the reliability of our postal system. On that matter, witnesses from other countries have said that there were a number of ways to vote. A few were listed earlier. There's proxy voting and electronic voting, for example. There's also a hybrid method whereby a person can receive their ballot by email, print it out at home, write the name of the person they're voting for and return the ballot by mail.
I have worked a lot with people who were no longer able to take care of their own affairs, so I have a question from that perspective. Say I live in France with my mother, who is no longer all there. I ask for a ballot for her. I write down the name I want and return it. I wonder how the government would go about ensuring that a person abroad is still of sound mind to vote, especially since the Elections Act no longer stipulates that someone unfit can't be represented.
Chief Electoral Officer, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
In fact, unfit people, like everyone else, have the right to vote. They have to express that desire. When it comes to the special ballot, they still have to sign the outside envelope. There's an indication of action on the part of the person voting. Obviously, signatures can be forged. No system is bulletproof.
We explored the hybrid system some years ago. We started looking into it in 2018. Technically, it's possible to do. We would have to change our systems to do it, but it would be possible. There are still challenges. To keep voters from having to buy three different sizes of envelopes to make the insertions, which is very difficult, we designed a model, a folding system, which can be a bit complex for the voter. The voter would also need to have a printer, but fewer and fewer people have printers at home.
Given the number of voters abroad, which was lower than it is now, and the complexity of all that, we didn't find this system to be a promising avenue when we looked into it at the time.
If the government wants to explore other mechanisms, if it's prepared to go further, there are more modern versions of telephone voting, if I may say so. I'm thinking of teleconferencing, where you see the person showing their ID and then being brought into a separate virtual room to vote anonymously. That wouldn't be allowed under the current legal framework, but it seems to me that it's more rooted in the future than methods such as folding, different envelopes formats and postal returns.
Liberal
Élisabeth Brière Liberal Sherbrooke, QC
You may say that I watch too much TV, but when I think about fake news and holograms, I think that we might see fake people showing up.
Chief Electoral Officer, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
They would also have fake I.D.
Liberal
Élisabeth Brière Liberal Sherbrooke, QC
In addition, someone told us that it was sometimes hard to have to look everywhere for all the information about an election in the country. He suggested creating a website that would put all the information in one place.
Chief Electoral Officer, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
All the information is in one tab on our website, so it would really be a variation on the same theme. These days, I think people who want to vote and are able to use the Internet can find all the information on our website during an election period. Our website is pretty well designed.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Chris Bittle
Thank you so much.
Madame Normandin, you have three and a half minutes.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
There's been a lot of talk about voter turnout among Canadians living abroad, which is estimated to be about 0.9%, if I'm not mistaken. One might question the relevance of the process if the turnout rate was about 1%, but a really small portion of the ballots sent to those individuals were returned to you. However, even if that doesn't represent a very high number of ballots, I understand that about 57% of the ballots sent to those people are returned to you afterwards. In the best of all possible worlds, the fact remains that less than 2% of the diaspora seem to be voting in elections.
I'd like your opinion on that. They seem to be saying that it's a bad thing that the rate is so low. That's more or less what we've heard from our colleagues. Perhaps it's a matter of interest or attachment. I'd like to hear your thoughts on that. Is it always a bad thing that voter turnout isn't higher than that?
November 25th, 2025 / 11:35 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
That's more of a philosophical question than a technical one, and it may not be my primary role to answer it.
That said, I think you had the answer in your question. It's partly a matter of interest on the part of voters. There are some Canadian voters abroad who remain interested and want to vote in elections. Our job is to facilitate that and to ensure the integrity of the process.
However, it's not Elections Canada's job to engage people who are no longer in the country and sometimes haven't been for decades. Maybe the political parties will want to do that. Maybe there are other interests and other groups that want to engage them, but I don't think it's Elections Canada's job to engage people. I mean people in general, but especially those who left the country several years ago.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
You mentioned that about 2 million to 4 million people make up the diaspora. We can agree that's quite a broad range. Isn't that an indication that the various Canadian authorities don't know our people living abroad very well?
If we wanted to better communicate to voters abroad that they can vote, could we have better coordination between departments? For example, when a Canadian abroad files their tax return, we could also send them information on how to register to get their name on the voter list, rather than making the Chief Electoral Officer solely responsible for that.
Chief Electoral Officer, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
I'm open to all suggestions. That might be a good suggestion. I don't know how many people living abroad pay taxes in Canada. Perhaps a certain number of them do.
However, I'd like to point out that when their name is on the International Register of Electors, voters really need to live abroad if they want to vote. Some Canadians go abroad temporarily in the winter: We call them snowbirds. They're considered to be national voters. They vote using a special ballot, but they're not in the same category. They use a different mechanism.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
How about sending those voters election campaign content or the issues raised during a campaign? Should the Chief Electoral Officer do that? Should it be someone else's responsibility, so the Chief Electoral Officer can maintain a sense of neutrality and impartiality? We tend to sometimes confuse things a little in the questions we ask during this study.
You said that your basic role was to facilitate voting. Do you think that's all you should be asked to do?
Chief Electoral Officer, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
I think so.
Obviously, our website contains information on candidates and registered parties. Other than that, it's very easy for voters to consult the political parties' websites. However, I wouldn't want to go a step further and post partisan content on the Elections Canada website. In my opinion, there's a line that mustn't be crossed in order to preserve people's trust in Elections Canada's impartiality.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Chris Bittle
Thank you very much.
We'll move on to Mr. Jackson, please, for six minutes.
Conservative
Grant Jackson Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I may split my time, if my colleague has some questions as well, so I'm going to be very quick and efficient.
Gentlemen, it's nice to see you again.
Madam Duquette, it's nice to meet you.
I voted by special ballot, which was a strange phenomenon. Can you tell me what protocols are in place to ensure the security of special ballots at Elections Canada offices in each constituency? Are they stored at each returning office in a camera-monitored storage area?
Special Voting Rules Administrator, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
I can take that.
All returning officers who secure an office—who rent out an office for the purposes of the general election—need to have a security system, and all ballots must be under lock and key. They have filing cabinets or things like that.