What are employers' obligations during election periods?

On March 23, the Prime Minister of Canada called a federal election to be held on April 28. What are employers' obligations to ensure employees can exercise their right to vote? This legal update will address this question. Please note that the rules set out apply only to federal elections.

General rule: employees must have three consecutive hours to vote

The Canada Elections Act¹ (the Act) stipulates that every employee who is a Canadian citizen aged 18 or over is entitled to have three consecutive hours to cast their votes on polling day. These vary according to the provinces and territories of Canada as follows:

• from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. if the electoral district is in the Newfoundland, Atlantic or Central time zone. For the Saskatchewan regions in this time zone, given the daylight savings time, voting hours will be from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.;
• from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. if the electoral district is in the Eastern time zone;
• from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. if the electoral district is in the Mountain time zone. For the Saskatchewan regions in this time zone, given the daylight savings time, voting hours will be from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.;
• from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. if the electoral district is in the Pacific time zone.

If employee schedules do not allow them to have three consecutive hours to go and vote before or after their shifts, the employer must grant them the necessary time to allow them to have the time required by law. The employer cannot deduct this period of absence from an employee’s salary.

It is important to note that the period of absence is granted at the employer's convenience. Thus, the employer can decide when it is appropriate for the employee to take time off to vote. 

To illustrate the concepts outlined, we will analyze the following two scenarios:

• First scenario: When employee work schedules are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and their electoral districts are in the Eastern time zone, the employer does not have to grant additional time after working hours. In this situation, employees have more than three consecutive hours between the end of their working hours and the closing of the polling stations to exercise their right to vote. 
• Second scenario: When employee schedules are from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and their electoral districts are in the Eastern time zone, the employer must allow employees to take time off in order to have three consecutive hours to exercise their right to vote. For example, the employer could decide that employees start their shift at 12:30 p.m. or that they finish it at 6:30 p.m. to ensure they have three consecutive hours before the polling stations close. A period of three consecutive hours could also be granted to employees during their shifts.

It should be emphasized that all Canadian employees eligible to vote are subject to this obligation, except for employees who work for a transportation company and are outside their voting districts and to whom the employer could not grant this period of absence without adversely affecting transportation services.

Penalties for non-compliance with employer obligations

Any employer who does not grant their employees the time they need to vote, or who deducts the period of absence spent voting from their salaries, may be subject to a fine of up to $2,000 and/or a prison sentence not exceeding three months.

Furthermore, the Act prohibits any form of intimidation, influence or obstruction aimed at preventing employees entitled to vote from exercising their rights. An employer who violates this rule is liable, upon summary conviction, to a fine of up to $20,000 and/or a prison sentence not exceeding one year. If the conviction is handed down following an indictment, the employer risks a fine not exceeding $50,000 and a prison sentence not exceeding five years, or either of these penalties.