Canada Elections Act (S.C. 2000, c. 9)

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.

535.1 [Repealed, 2014, c. 12, s. 114]

Marginal note:Report on returning officer qualifications

535.2 Whenever the Chief Electoral Officer, pursuant to subsection 24(1.1), prescribes the qualifications for the appointment of persons as returning officers or establishes a process for their appointment or a procedure for their removal — or modifies those qualifications, that process or that procedure in a significant manner — the Chief Electoral Officer shall report accordingly to the Speaker of the House of Commons without delay.

Marginal note:Report on alternatives to signature

535.3 Without delay after exercising his or her authority under section 18.3, the Chief Electoral Officer shall report to the Speaker of the House of Commons as to the manner in which a requirement under a provision of this Act for a signature may be satisfied.

Marginal note:Submission of report to House of Commons

536 The Speaker of the House of Commons shall submit a report received by him or her from the Chief Electoral Officer under section 534, 535, 535.2 or 535.3 to the House of Commons without delay.

Marginal note:Political financing

536.1 After the submission to the House of Commons of a report under section 535 in relation to the first general election following the coming into force of this section, any committee of that House to which the report is referred shall, in addition to considering the report, consider the effects of the provisions of this Act concerning political financing that came into force on the same day as this section.

Marginal note:Complaints

• 537 (1) Every candidate, official agent of a candidate or leader or chief agent of a registered party or eligible party may send to the Chief Electoral Officer a statement in writing that contains any complaint with respect to the conduct of the election or of an election officer or any suggestion as to changes or improvements in the law that the person wishes to make.

• Marginal note:Inclusion in a report

  (2) If the Chief Electoral Officer considers it appropriate, the Chief Electoral Officer may include in a report referred to in section 534 or 535 any document or a part or a summary of one that relates to a complaint or suggestion received under subsection (1).

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.

Polling Divisions

Marginal note:Minimum of 250 electors

• 538 (1) Each polling division shall contain at least 250 electors unless the Chief Electoral Officer agrees otherwise.

• Marginal note:Boundaries of polling divisions

  (2) Subject to subsection (3), the polling divisions of an electoral district in a general election remain the same as at the immediately preceding general election.

• Marginal note:Revision

  (3) The Chief Electoral Officer may instruct a returning officer to revise the boundaries of any polling division in the returning officer’s electoral district, and may fix the date by which the revision shall be completed.

• Marginal note:Factors

  (4) The returning officer shall revise the polling divisions in accordance with the instructions of the Chief Electoral Officer, taking into account the polling divisions established by municipal and provincial authorities and the accessibility by electors to the polling stations established in them.

• 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.

Amendments to Schedule 3

Marginal note:Amendments to list of electoral districts

• 539 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Chief Electoral Officer may amend the list of electoral districts set out in Schedule 3 by

  • (a) adding to it, where the Chief Electoral Officer is of the opinion that the exigencies of restricted communication or transportation facilities require the addition for the better operation of this Act, the name of any electoral district that

    • (i) is described in a representation order declared under the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act to be in force, and

    • (ii) coincides with or includes the whole or a part of an electoral district that was set out in Schedule 3 as it read on July 15, 1971; or

  • (b) deleting from it the name of any electoral district referred to in subparagraph (a)(ii) that is not described in a representation order referred to in subparagraph (a)(i).

• 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.

Custody of Election Documents and Documents Relating to the Register of Electors

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:Chief Electoral Officer to retain election documents

• 540 (1) The Chief Electoral Officer shall retain in his or her possession the election documents sent to him or her by a returning officer, with the return of the writ, for at least one year if the election is not contested during that time and, if the election is contested, for one year after the end of the contestation.

• Marginal note:Documents relating to Register of Electors

  (2) The Chief Electoral Officer shall, for at least two years after receiving them, retain in his or her possession, on film or in electronic form, all documents that relate to the updating of the Register of Electors.

• Marginal note:Inspection of documents

  (3) No election documents, or documents that relate to the establishment or updating of the Register of Electors, that are retained in the custody of the Chief Electoral Officer under subsection (1) or (2) shall, during the period of their retention, be inspected or produced except under an order of a judge of a superior court, which, if made, the Chief Electoral Officer shall obey.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (4) Subsection (3) does not prohibit the Chief Electoral Officer or any authorized member of his or her staff from inspecting the documents referred to in that subsection.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (4.1) The Chief Electoral Officer may also disclose any of the documents referred to in subsection (3) to the Commissioner for the purposes of the exercise or performance of the Commissioner’s powers, duties and functions under this Act and the Commissioner may, in turn, disclose any of those documents to the Director of Public Prosecutions, who may produce them for the purpose of a prosecution — or possible prosecution — by the Director for an offence under this Act.

• Marginal note:Election documents or papers admissible in evidence when certified

  (5) When a judge of a superior court has ordered the production of election documents, the Chief Electoral Officer need not, unless the judge orders otherwise, appear personally to produce them but shall certify the documents and send them by courier to the clerk or registrar of the court, who shall, when the documents have served the purposes of the judge, return them by courier to the Chief Electoral Officer.

• Marginal note:Certified documents

  (6) Documents purporting to be certified by the Chief Electoral Officer are admissible in evidence without further proof.

• Marginal note:Filmed or electronic evidence

  (7) In any proceedings under this Act, a print that is made from a photographic film or from a document in electronic form made by the Chief Electoral Officer for the purpose of keeping a permanent record of a document, and certified by the Chief Electoral Officer or by a person acting in the name of or under the direction of the Chief Electoral Officer, is admissible in evidence for all purposes for which the recorded document would be admitted as evidence, without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed the certificate.

• Marginal note:Order of Court

  (8) A judge may make an order under subsection (3) on being satisfied by evidence on oath that the inspection or production of a document referred to in that subsection is required for the purpose of instituting or maintaining a prosecution for an offence in relation to an election or for the purpose of an application under subsection 524(1).

• Marginal note:Conditions of inspections

  (9) An order for the inspection or production of election documents or documents that relate to the updating of the Register of Electors may be made subject to any conditions with respect to persons, time, place and mode of inspection or production that the judge considers appropriate.

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.

• Marginal note:Extracts

  (2) Any person may take extracts from documents referred to in subsection (1) and is entitled to obtain copies of them on payment of a fee of up to $0.25 per page.

• Marginal note:Evidence

  (3) Any copies of documents referred to in subsection (1) purporting to be certified by the Chief Electoral Officer are admissible in evidence without further proof.

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.

Fees and Expenses of Election Officers

Marginal note:Tariff

• 542 (1) On the recommendation of the Chief Electoral Officer, the Governor in Council may make a tariff fixing or providing for the determination of fees, costs, allowances and expenses to be paid and allowed to returning officers and other persons employed at or in relation to elections under this Act.

• Marginal note:Treasury Board directive

  (1.1) The tariff may incorporate by reference any Treasury Board directive regarding travel and living expenses, as it is amended from time to time.

• Marginal note:Effective date

  (2) The Governor in Council may specify that a tariff made under subsection (1) has effect as of a day that is before the one on which it is made.

• Marginal note:Copy to House of Commons

  (3) A copy of a tariff made under subsection (1) and of any amendment made to one shall be laid before the House of Commons on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after the making of the tariff or amendment.

• Marginal note:Payment of additional sums

  (4) If it appears to the Chief Electoral Officer that the fees, costs, allowances and expenses provided for by a tariff under subsection (1) are not sufficient remuneration for the services required to be performed at an election or that a claim for any necessary service performed or for materials supplied for or at an election is not covered by the tariff, the Chief Electoral Officer may authorize the payment of any sum or additional sum for the services or materials that he or she considers just and reasonable.

Marginal note:Payment of claims

543 All claims that relate to the conduct of an election shall be paid by electronic payment credited to the accounts of persons who are entitled to payment or by separate cheques issued from the office of the Receiver General and sent directly to such persons.

Marginal note:Accountable advance

• 544 (1) An accountable advance may be made to an election officer to defray office and other incidental expenses in any amount that may be approved under the tariff made under subsection 542(1).

• Marginal note:Preparation of accounts

  (2) A returning officer shall prepare, in the prescribed form, all accounts to be submitted by the returning officer to the Chief Electoral Officer and is responsible for their correctness.

545 [Repealed, 2014, c. 12, s. 121]

Marginal note:Taxation of accounts

• 546 (1) The Chief Electoral Officer shall, in accordance with the tariff made under subsection 542(1), tax all accounts that relate to the conduct of an election and transmit them without delay to the Receiver General.

• Marginal note:Rights saved

  (2) Despite subsection (1), the rights, if any, of claimants to compel payment or further payment by process of law remain unimpaired.