Canada Elections Act

Marginal note:Free broadcasting time

• 345 (1) In the period beginning on the issue of the writs for a general election and ending at midnight on the day before polling day at that election, every network operator shall, subject to the regulations made under the Broadcasting Act and to the conditions of its licence, make available, at no cost, to the registered parties and eligible parties referred to in subsection (2), for the transmission of political announcements and other programming produced by or on behalf of those parties, broadcasting time as determined under that subsection if the network formed and operated by the network operator

  • (a) reaches a majority of Canadians whose mother tongue is the same as that in which the network broadcasts;

  • (b) is licensed with respect to more than a particular series of programs or type of programming; and

  • (c) does not involve a distribution undertaking as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Broadcasting Act.

• Marginal note:Determination of free broadcasting time

  (2) For the purpose of subsection (1), the minimum amount of broadcasting time that a network operator is to make available shall be no less than the amount of free broadcasting time made available by it at the last general election and shall be made available as follows:

  • (a) two minutes to every registered party referred to in paragraph 337(1)(a) and every eligible party referred to in paragraph 339(2)(a); and

  • (b) the remainder to all registered parties that have been allocated any of the broadcasting time to be made available under section 335 and all eligible parties that have requested broadcasting time under section 339 in the proportion that their allocated or requested purchasable broadcasting time bears to the total broadcasting time allocated or requested under those sections.

• Marginal note:Free time not election expense

  (3) The value of free broadcasting time made available to a registered party under this section shall not be taken into consideration in calculating its election expenses within the meaning of section 376.

• Marginal note:Determination of population reached

  (4) For the purpose of subsection (1), a network is deemed to reach

  • (a) people resident within the areas served by broadcasting stations affiliated to the network that

    • (i) in the case of A.M. radio stations, are enclosed by the night-time interference-free official contour of the stations,

    • (ii) in the case of F.M. radio stations, are enclosed by the 50 mV per metre official contour of the stations, and

    • (iii) in the case of television stations, are enclosed by the Grade B official contour of the stations; and

  • (b) people resident outside the areas described in paragraph (a) to whom the signals of broadcasting stations affiliated to the network are available via distribution undertakings licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.