Voter turnout

Proportion of the population voting in the most recent election at the federal, provincial and municipal levels.

This indicator is measured by Elections Canada and in Statistics Canada's General Social Survey (GSS) - Social Identity, and the Survey Series on People and their Communities (SSPC).

For Canadian federal elections, Elections Canada calculates official voter turnout as the number of votes cast divided by the number of registered electors (Estimation of Voter Turnout by Age Group and Gender at the 2019 General Election). Since 2004, Elections Canada has used a sample of administrative data compiled in the course of administering the election to estimate voter turnout by age group and, since 2008, by sex, at the national, provincial and territorial levels. According to Elections Canada, these administrative data, combined with those from the National Register of Electors, offer a more accurate way of measuring turnout than household surveys, which overestimate participation.

In the GSS on Social Identity, survey respondents are asked the following questions:

Did you vote in the last federal election?

The last federal election was held on October 21, 2019.

• Yes
• No

Were you eligible to vote in the last federal election?

• Yes
• No

Did you vote in the last provincial election?

• Yes
• No

Were you eligible to vote in the last provincial election?

• Yes
• No

Did you vote in the last municipal or local election?

• Yes
• No

Were you eligible to vote in the last municipal or local election?

• Yes
• No

• Elections Canada
  • Voter Turnout at Federal Elections and Referendums
• General Social Survey (GSS) - Social Identity
  • Table 43-10-0066-01 – Vote in the last federal, provincial and municipal elections, by groups designated as visible minorities and selected sociodemographic characteristics, 2020
  • Table 45-10-0025-01 – Electoral participation in last federal election
  • Table 45-10-0026-01 – Electoral participation in last provincial election
  • Table 45-10-0027-01 – Electoral participation in last municipal election
• Survey Series on People and their Communities (SSPC)

• Portrait of Youth in Canada: Data Visualization Tool (Statistics Canada – Data Visualization Products)
• Portrait of youth in Canada: Political participation and civic engagement (Statistics Canada – Infographics, July 19, 2022)
• For additional visuals of voter turnout data, please refer to Youth Voting Trends from Elections Canada.

• Political participation, civic engagement and caregiving among youth in Canada (Portrait of Youth in Canada: Data Report, July 19, 2022)
• Reasons for not voting in the federal election, September 20, 2021 (The Daily, February 16, 2022)
• Reasons for not voting in the federal election, October 21, 2019 (The Daily, February 26, 2020)

Elections Canada – Research on Electoral Participation

The General Social Survey (GSS) – Social Identity asks additional questions on voting. For example, survey respondents are asked:

What is the main reason you did not vote in the last federal election?

• Own illness or disability
• Out of town or away from home
• Too busy
• Family obligations
• Conflicting work or school schedule
• Weather conditions
• Not interested
• Felt voting would not make a difference in election results
• Didn't like candidates or campaign issues
• Not on voters list, problems with ID requirements
• Too difficult, transportation problems, too far to travel, lines too long
• Forgot to vote
• Religious beliefs
• Not informed on political issues
• Undecided
• Did not vote to protest
• Other

Important note from the article Portrait of youth in Canada: Data report - Political participation, civic engagement and caregiving among youth in Canada:

"Previous studies and post-election surveys have consistently reported higher voter turnout rates than Elections Canada. For example, Elections Canada data showed that 54% of youth aged 18 to 24 voted in the 2019 federal election, compared with 78% reported in the 2020 GSS. Even though GSS data overestimate voting rates, existing studies have shown that the key demographic characteristics associated with voting (e.g., age and gender) are generally the same between the GSS and Elections Canada data. Using data from the GSS allows us to examine characteristics beyond age and gender, as well as the reasons people choose not to vote."