Though we say that democracy has no price, the reality is that organizing and conducting a general election, which is a principle expression of democracy, necessarily implies major costs.
Among such election expenses are the salaries paid to the thousands of citizens hired prior and
Though we say that democracy has no price, the reality is that organizing and conducting a general election, which is a principle expression of democracy, necessarily implies major costs.
Among such election expenses are the salaries paid to the thousands of citizens hired prior and during elections to ensure that voting proceeds smoothly and fairly in all the 65,000 polling stations in federal electoral districts across the country.
Other expenses include the reimbursement of monies spent during an election and for the provision and dissemination of all the necessary information needed by Canadian voters.
So, how much does a federal general election cost Canadian taxpayers?
According to Elections Canada estimates, the 42nd general election in October 2015 cost $443 million.
This is an increase of nearly 53 percent over the previous general election, the 41st in 2011, which had cost $289.7 million…
For the 40th general election, the cost was estimated at $288.2 million (source: Report of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada).
|(in millions of dollars) (current dollars; not adjusted for inflation)||
39th general election in 2006 (estimate)
38thgeneral election in 2004
37th general election in 2000
|Activities tied to conducting elections in the ridings1||126.1||108.0||89.4|
|Activities by Elections Canada in Ottawa tied to preparing for and holding a vote2||92.8||110.6||86.3|
|Reimbursing election expenses of candidates and political parties||53.7||56.2||24.9|
1 Including costs of hiring election officers and poll officials, printing lists of electors, and renting offices for the returning officers and polling stations.
2 Including election material, training for returning officers and other staff, update of the National Register of Electors, advertising and awareness campaigns, the support network and informat