Results: what we achieved – 2019–20 Departmental Results Report

Core responsibility: Electoral Administration and Oversight

The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer is the independent and non-partisan agency responsible for the electoral administration and oversight of federal elections and referendums. It is headed by the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada.

Description: The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer's core responsibility is to prepare for, deliver, and report on federal elections and referendums in accordance with the legislative framework while ensuring integrity throughout the electoral process.

Results: In 2019–20, the agency focused on the preparation and delivery of the 43rd general election that was held on October 21, 2019. Elections Canada's first departmental result is to ensure that Canadians can exercise their democratic right to vote. In order to support this departmental result, the agency continued to implement the changes outlined in the Elections Modernization Act^{Footnote i}, including modernizing electoral administration in Canada, reinforcing its integrity, and making the voting process more inclusive.

43rd general election

Elections Canada completed all preparations for the delivery of the 43rd general election. Beyond implementing the changes brought forth by the Elections Modernization Act, the agency worked diligently to ensure operations at the polls were ready when the election was called. This included:
- updating systems and applications
- distributing electoral material to all 338 electoral districts
- supporting returning officers in procuring services for polling stations
- supporting returning officers in hiring and training election workers
The agency collaborated with national security agencies to safeguard the security and integrity of the electoral process. Protocols were developed to monitor the information environment, including social media, for incidents that could affect the smooth administration of the election. When instances of misinformation occurred, the agency mitigated the situation by redirecting electors to the accurate information. The agency also gathered real-time feedback from electors on events such as weather, power outages, and road closures; this improved situational awareness and efficiency in resolving issues.
Following a successful pilot in 2018–19, the Political Entities Service Centre portal was launched nationally in advance of the 43rd general election. This portal offered a secure and modern self-service approach to:
- submitting candidate nominations
- confirming candidates
- accessing the online repository of electoral products for candidate services, including maps and lists of electors
- preparing, submitting, and managing party financial reports
Elections Canada successfully rolled out a new case management system to
2,200 users, including electoral administrators and a third-party call centre provider. This system included Web forms, VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol), and a new knowledge base that improved the agency's ability to efficiently manage and respond to public enquiries and complaints.
The agency continued to update and modernize the National Register of Electors and focused on three primary goals:
- to ensure elector data and addresses were current and accurate
- to remove inactive and ineligible electors
- to increase registration rates
In service of these goals, Elections Canada worked with the Canada Revenue Agency, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Statistics Canada, Canada Post, and provincial and territorial agencies to collect and validate data and statistical indicators of quality.

Notably, the agency also invested in outreach and promotional efforts directed at new Canadians, persons with disabilities, Canadians who recently turned 18 years old and Indigenous electors, as the registration rates among these groups were significantly below the national average.

To engage future voters (under 18 years old) in learning about the electoral process, the agency offered a student parallel election program. Some 1.2 million elementary and secondary students from all 338 electoral districts took part in Student Vote Canada 2019. This was the largest student vote ever; it was delivered by CIVIX^{Footnote ii} under contract with Elections Canada.

Thanks to the collaborative work undertaken to update and maintain the Register in 2019–20, Elections Canada achieved the most accurate voters list since the inception of the Register in 1997, with coverage and accuracy levels at 96.4% and 93.3%.
In order to ensure that Canadians had easy access to accurate information on where, when, and the ways to vote, and on the safeguards that protect the integrity of the electoral process, the agency organized the pre-election period and election period Voter Information Campaign that included advertisements:
- on 28 English-speaking and 27 French-speaking mainstream television stations
- on nine ethnic and two Indigenous television stations
- in over 500 daily and weekly publications
- on 723 mainstream radio stations
- on over 100 ethnic and Indigenous radio stations
- on 3,000 digital public transit screens (e.g. at bus stops and subway stations)
- on 2,250 movie screens
- on several digital platforms, including multiple websites and social media sites
Beyond advertisements, the agency provided numerous tools to Canadians, including:
- 45 infographics, videos, and downloadable information products
- the Guide to the federal election^{Footnote iii} sent to over 15 million households across Canada
- access to information material translated into multiple languages including English, French, and 16 Indigenous languages
Early campaign statistics revealed excellent results. Overall, the agency generated 32.7 million video impressions on YouTube, reached 14.3 million users on Facebook, and received 14.7 million video impressions on Twitter. In total, Elections Canada reached 99% of Canadians on an average of 24 times during the campaign.

Following the campaign, the agency conducted a review to identify strengths, weaknesses, and lessons learned. Surveys and focus groups were conducted in the fall of 2019; preliminary results indicated that electors felt they had all the information they needed to register and vote in the federal election.
Three hundred and thirty-eight returning officers played an instrumental role in the delivery of the general election by establishing their offices and satellite offices across the country. The fixed event date allowed Elections Canada and returning officers to prepare earlier and more extensively. These activities related primarily to polling operations, property leases, and the recruitment of election workers.
As part of the preparation activities for polling operations, the agency and returning officers:
- reviewed polling divisions and the National Register of Electors to organize and select polling places for electors, using routing data and geographic information with automated software
- reviewed addresses in high-mobility neighbourhoods, new housing developments, First Nations reserves, long-term care facilities, and post-secondary residences
- developed plans for targeted updates, including setting up public desks where electors could register or update their information
On June 3, 2019, the Chief Electoral Officer authorized the returning officers to secure and sign leases effective September 1, 2019, for returning offices, polling places, and external service points. All returning officers complied with the June 30 deadline for business processes, systems, and instruction packages to be ready.

With the aim of hiring more than 248,000 election workers, returning officers began to recruit promptly; however, given the sheer magnitude of the event, recruitment remained a challenge throughout the electoral period. By using diverse hiring methods, including the agency's first national digital recruitment campaign, returning officers were able to hire a total of roughly 232,000 workers, including 18,000 office staff working in Elections Canada offices and about 214,000 election workers assigned to polling sites. Knowing that this challenge will persist, Elections Canada is continuing to review options to optimize its approach for future elections.

The cumulative result of these activities was that Elections Canada and returning officers were ready to deliver electoral services to all Canadians as soon as the general election was called in September 2019.

Beyond the election

Through the stakeholder mobilization programs, Elections Canada was able to complete many key initiatives, including:
- the delivery of 245 workshops/conferences and the launch of two new toolkits for stakeholders for working at a federal election and registering and voting in a federal election through the Inspire Democracy^{Footnote iv} program
- 120 information-sharing agreements with stakeholder organizations that distributed 316,935 Voter Information Campaign print materials
- the collaboration with stakeholder organizations to develop new targeted materials to meet the needs of their members, including:
  - six resources specific to Indigenous electors
  - five resources specific to new electors
  - 10 resources on accessibility options for voting specific to persons with disabilities
Through the ongoing civic education program aimed at pre-voters (elementary and secondary students under 18 years old), Elections Canada was able to reach more students and teachers than ever before. Key accomplishments include:
- 11 curriculum-linked learning resources, including a new resource on digital literacy, for which 18,451 resource kits were ordered by over 4,000 teachers
- a learning website that received 53,673 unique visitors and where 6,127 educational resources were downloaded
- a teachers' survey that found a 99% satisfaction rate with the resources provided by Elections Canada
- 66 education awareness events across Canada that reached 13,122 participants
- 288 professional learning workshops for 11,244 educators through two pilot projects featuring dedicated educators in Manitoba and the Greater Toronto Area
- programming delivered to participants at seven national student events through Encounters with Canada^{Footnote v} and Forum for Young Canadians^{Footnote vi}, directly reaching over 800 young leaders from across Canada

The agency created and launched the Register of Future Electors on April 1, 2019, so that youth could pre-register and the voter registration process could be simplified when they turn 18 years old.

Elections Canada continued work to introduce electronic poll books (providing electronic lists of electors and record-keeping at the polls) in order to accelerate services to electors and reduce record-keeping errors made by poll workers. Anticipated improvements were delayed due to emerging priorities following the 43rd general election.

In 2019–20, Elections Canada also delivered on its second departmental result, which is to promote a fair and transparent electoral process, free of undue influence. Numerous initiatives supported the delivery of this result:

The agency worked with lead security agencies to protect the agency's digital assets and monitor the information environment for incidents that could affect the smooth administration of the election. In order to prepare for a range of potential incidents, new monitoring capabilities and cyber-defence strategies were established, including:
- added protections to Elections Canada's network, website, and data centres
- increased ability of the agency to monitor its network and digital services in order to better detect and address potential cyber-threats
- requirement for all employees at Elections Canada headquarters and staff at Elections Canada offices to take cybersecurity training
- resilience testing for phishing attempts
A new centralized social media monitoring and response coordination unit was in operation for the 2019 general election. This unit supported the agency in detecting and quickly responding to security issues, operational incidents, and inaccurate information about the electoral process. The unit detected a number of instances during the election period where inaccurate information about the electoral process was shared. Between August and October 21, 2019, 28 instances of inaccurate information about voting dates and locations as well as accounts impersonating Elections Canada on social media platforms were flagged. The agency worked with the platforms to redirect electors to the Elections Canada website for up-to-date and accurate information.
The agency implemented changes to the political financing regime necessitated by the Elections Modernization Act, including significant changes in the regulation of third-party activity. As part of this work, Elections Canada prepared and disseminated several new tools through multiple channels to raise awareness and provide assistance including:
- a handbook for third parties
- videos on political financing
- information sessions in July 2019
- a workshop in Toronto (May 2019) with members of the agency's stakeholder network
Another priority for 2019–20 was to provide political entities with modern tools and training to help them comply with their obligations under the Canada Elections Act. The first phase of a multi-year project was launched and included a new online political financing reporting tool (EFR-online) for parties and electoral district associations. A paperless process for nomination contestants and candidates to electronically file their electoral expense returns and supporting documentation was also introduced.
Elections Canada made improvements to its audit processes and tools by introducing a risk-based audit approach to its compliance activities and the use of data analytics to better identify cases of non-compliance. The agency also finalized preparations for the audit of election expense returns following the general election. Approximately half of the candidates and third parties filed their returns by the statutory deadline of February 21, 2020. Given the uncharted territory of the pandemic, extensions were granted to ensure that candidates and third parties did not become non-compliant.
Throughout 2019–20, Elections Canada maintained its presence on the international scene by participating in various events, including:
- Hosting the GE43 Visitors' Program in October 2019. This event brought together 23 participants from Canada and other countries (Australia, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mexico, New Zealand, and Sweden) to experience Canada's electoral process first-hand, as well as exchange on key electoral administration policy and operational issues.
- Engaging with the electoral commissions of Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom at the Four Countries Bi-Annual Meeting where Chief Electoral Officers discussed emerging electoral administration policy and regulatory issues.
- Engaging with fellow electoral authorities of the Commonwealth on regulatory regimes and best practices in political financing.
- Engaging with electoral administrations in the United States by participating in the winter conference of the National Association of State Election Directors.
- Participating in the seventh international electoral knowledge seminar of the Réseau des compétences électorales francophones, where the agency presented Canada's advance polling service model.
- Presenting preliminary observations from the 43rd general election at the XIV Inter-American Meeting of Electoral Authorities.
Overall, the agency hosted four international delegations at its headquarters for knowledge exchange visits, received 48 international requests regarding Canada's approach to election administration, and participated in eight multilateral forums.

Remaining active in its engagement with electoral management board networks ensured that Elections Canada continued to be at the forefront of trends and issues related to election management. It further enabled Elections Canada to both benchmark its policies and processes and contribute to best practices in the electoral administration field. Benchmarking and fostering a culture of learning and knowledge exchange have been key ingredients in maintaining a fair, secure, and transparent electoral process.
Following the general election, the Chief Electoral Officer submitted his official report^{Footnote vii} on the administration of the election and the official voting results to the Speaker of the House of Commons. This report provides a description of how the 43rd general election was administered and describes the key aspects of the preparation and delivery of the election. Some close-out activities were still ongoing at year-end. Two additional reports will be released to finalize the review of the election and recommend amendments to the Canada Elections Act.

Beyond the 2019 general election, the agency focused on the following key initiatives to ensure a fair and transparent electoral process free of undue influence:

Elections Canada completed its triennial exercise to confirm the minimum number of members required for all registered political parties to maintain their registered status. Two parties that did not comply were deregistered in accordance with the Canada Elections Act.
The agency continued to deliver its annual training program for electoral district associations. The training sessions were delivered in person until the advent of the pandemic and then continued to be provided virtually. Training sessions were offered to official agents of candidates before and after the general election to help them comply with the political financing regime of the Canada Elections Act.

Key risks

Elections Canada regularly updated its corporate risk framework and monitored the risk environment throughout 2019–20. Early in the year, Elections Canada identified issues related to electoral integrity and security that could compromise the privacy of Canadians and their trust and ability to take part in the electoral process. The agency mitigated these risks by:

monitoring the information environment, including social media, for incidents that could affect the smooth administration of the election. A dedicated team, fluent in 21 languages, examined keywords appearing in public posts on several social media networks to detect misinformation. When the latter appeared, the agency mitigated the situation by redirecting electors to the accurate information. The agency also gathered real-time feedback from electors on events such as weather, power outages, and road closures. These efforts contributed to improved situational awareness and efficiency in resolving issues. No major incidents of misinformation were detected that would have disrupted services to Canadians or the administration of the electoral process in the 43rd general election.
safeguarding the agency's cybersecurity posture through continuous investment in Elections Canada's network, website, and data centres. No cybersecurity incidents disrupted services to Canadians or the administration of the electoral process in the 43rd general election, due in large part to these efforts.
reviewing its event monitoring and response processes for the 43rd general election to ensure that it quickly and efficiently responded to incidents that arose. In October 2019, severe storms caused considerable snow accumulation and major power outages in parts of Manitoba, triggering a state of emergency. This disrupted plans for advance polls in several electoral districts. The Chief Electoral Officer authorized the early closure of certain polling places affected by the winter conditions and outages. In response to these events, Elections Canada implemented a series of extraordinary measures to accommodate electors who otherwise may not have been able to vote because of evacuations and outages.
Elections Canada will continue to monitor all risks and implement appropriate response strategies.

Results achieved
Departmental Result	Performance Indicator	Target	Actual Results¹
Canadians can exercise their democratic right to vote	Percentage of polling places that meet Elections Canada's key accessibility criteria	100% by March 31, 2020	2019–20: 94% 2018–19: 97% 2017–18: 99%
	Percentage of electors included in the National Register of Electors	At least 94% by March 31, 2020	2019–20: 96% 2018–19: 94% 2017–18: 92%
	Percentage of electors who are aware of the main voting methods	At least 90% of electors are aware of the option to vote at a polling station on election day by March 31, 2020	2019–20: 91% 2018–19: 86%² 2017–18: N/A
		At least 70% of electors are aware of the option to vote at an advance poll by March 31, 2020	2019–20: 71% 2018–19: 61%² 2017–18: N/A
	Percentage of electors' residences that are within a given road distance of their assigned polling place	At least 95% by March 31, 2020	2019–20: 94% 2018–19: 98% 2017–18: 95%
A fair and transparent electoral process free of undue influence	Percentage of Canadians who have a positive perception of the administration of elections	Electors: at least 95% by March 31, 2020	2019–20: 91% 2018–19: 92%² 2017–18: 91%
		Candidates: at least 85% by March 31, 2020	2019–20: 82% 2018–19: N/A² 2017–18: N/A
	Percentage of excess contributions that are returned to contributors or remitted to the Chief Electoral Officer	At least 90% by March 31, 2021	2019–20: N/A 2018–19: N/A 2017–18: 100%
	Percentage of candidates' campaign returns that Elections Canada posts online within 10 business days of filing	100% by March 31, 2020	2019–20:100% 2018–19: 83% 2017–18: 89%
	Election officers' level of compliance with procedures at the polls	A deviation under 2% for key controls by March 31, 2020	2019–20: within tolerance 2018–19: within tolerance 2017–18: within tolerance
		A deviation under 11% for secondary controls by March 31, 2020	2019–20: within tolerance 2018–19: within tolerance 2017–18: within tolerance

Note 1: Each year reflects the following number of events:

2019–20: 1 by-election, 1 general election

2018–19: 5 by-elections

2017–18: 11 by-elections

Note 2: Targets were based on general election survey results. By-elections are not comparable to general election results nor should they be compared to other by-election results.

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)
2019–20 Main Estimates	2019–20 Planned spending	2019–20 Total authorities available for use	2019–20 Actual spending (authorities used)	2019–20 Difference (Actual spending minus Planned spending)
452,267,740	452,267,740	518,853,769	515,137,124	62,869,384

The difference of $ 62.9 million is primarily a result of increased costs for the 43rd general election, including the impact of Bill C-76 ($20.8 million), other general election expenses ($20.7 million), and the length of the electoral calendar exceeding the minimum 36 days ($3.8 million). It is also a result of one by-election in May 2019 ($1.1 million) and the transfer of the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections from the Director of Public Prosecutions ($5.7 million).

Human resources (full-time equivalents)
2019–20 Planned full-time equivalents	2019–20 Actual full-time equivalents	2019–20 Difference (Actual full-time equivalents minus Planned full-time equivalents)
791	756	-35

The net reduction of 35 full-time equivalents is mainly the result of fewer than planned temporary employees working at the 43rd general election and asset renewal projects, staffing delays, and an increase due to the transfer of the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections from the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the Office of Chief Electoral Officer's Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase^{Footnote viii}.

Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections

April 1, 2019, marked the administrative return of the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections to the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer after almost five years with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. This transfer followed the coming into force of certain provisions of the Elections Modernization Act.^{Footnote ix} This transfer will facilitate collaboration between both organizations while maintaining the independence of each office.

Description: The Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections supports the integrity of Canada's electoral process by ensuring compliance with, and enforcement of, the
Canada Elections Act^{Footnote x} and the Referendum Act.^{Footnote xi}

Results: The Commissioner of Canada Elections worked with the Chief Electoral Officer throughout 2019–20 to develop safeguards to maintain his independence. In order to uphold the principles of independence set out in the Act, the Commissioner of Canada Elections and the Chief Electoral Officer agreed to a set of key principles.^{Footnote xii} These principles guide the relationship between the Commissioner and the Chief Electoral Officer in the exercise and performance of their respective powers, duties and functions while maintaining the institutional separation of the two offices.

43rd general election

In 2019–2020, the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections received 8,184 complaints and referrals alleging non-compliance with the requirements of the Canada Elections Act. Of those complaints and referrals, 2,745 were received during the election period between September 11 and October 21, 2019.
Throughout the reporting period, the Office reviewed and evaluated all 8,184 complaints it received, including those in relation to the 43rd federal general election. These reviews were carried out with a view to determine whether:
- the complaint fell within the Commissioner's jurisdiction
- the information provided was sufficient
- an investigation was warranted
There was also work carried out to finalize investigations in relation to previous electoral events.

As a result of investigations concluded in the 2019–20 fiscal year, the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections:
- laid six charges against two individuals
- entered into 11 compliance agreements
- issued 64 caution letters and 17 information letters
The choice of compliance or enforcement measure is based on the facts of each case and the factors outlined in the Compliance and Enforcement Policy of the Commissioner of Canada Elections.^{Footnote xiii} Details of these outcomes are made public on the Commissioner's website.

Beyond the election

In light of the growing complexity of its investigations, the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections secured the services of experts who facilitated information-gathering for these investigations and ensured that all information captured by resources in the course of their work met or exceeded established standards under the law.
In 2019–20, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer completed all activities surrounding the creation of a new compliance unit. The unit was established to:
- administer the new administrative monetary penalties^{Footnote xiv} (AMP) regime
- prepare and send information and caution letters
- negotiate compliance agreements and undertakings
In addition to these activities, a six-week public consultation was conducted in the fall on the AMP Policy.^{Footnote xv} This provided the opportunity for any interested person to submit their comments on the policy to ensure fair, reasonable, and efficient implementation of the AMP regime. As a result of these consultations, changes were made to the policy, including:
- the reclassification of some violations
- additional examples of AMP calculations within the policy
- editorial changes
- clarification of aspects within the application of the AMP regime

Results achieved
Departmental Result	Performance Indicator	Target	Actual Results¹
Compliance and enforcement activities under the Canada Elections Act contribute to the integrity of the electoral process	Number and percentage of complaints resulting in compliance measures, broken down by type of measure	80% by March 31, 2020	2019–20: 100%² 2018–19: 100%³ 2017–18: 100%⁴
	Number and percentage of complaints resulting in formal criminal enforcement measures	N/A	2019–20: 100%² 2018–19: 100%³ 2017–18: 100%⁴

Note 1: The program structure changed in 2017–18, which resulted in the combination of compliance and enforcement programs. For this reason, actual results of performance indicators have been combined.

Note 2: For 2019–20, 100% signifies a combination of 81 (83%) caution and information letters sent, 11 (11%) compliance agreements entered into, and six (6%) charges laid.

Note 3: For 2018-19, 100% signifies a combination of 164 (91%) caution letters sent, eight (4.4%) compliance agreements put in place, and eight (4.4%) charges laid.

Note 4: For 2017-18, 100% signifies a combination of 160 (92%) caution letters sent, five (3%) compliance agreements put in place, and eight (5%) charges laid.

The Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections moved back to the Office of the Chief Elector Officer on April 1, 2019. This move occurred after the publication of the 2019–20 Departmental Plan that displayed planned spending and full-time equivalents. As such, all financial and human resources data for the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections for the 2019–20 fiscal year is included in the Core responsibility: Electoral Administration and Oversight section of this report.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the Office of Chief Electoral Officer's Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase^{Footnote xvi}.

Internal Services

Description

Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct service categories that support Program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. The 10 service categories are:

Acquisition Management Services
Communication Services
Financial Management Services
Human Resources Management Services
Information Management Services
Information Technology Services
Legal Services
Material Management Services
Management and Oversight Services
Real Property Management Services

Results

In 2019–20, Internal Services continued to support the agency. Results of the key initiatives undertaken by Internal Services:

New monitoring capabilities and collaboration channels were established and maintained with national security agencies in order to strengthen Election Canada's security posture. This allowed the agency to protect the services and systems that supported its mandate.
Procurement, contracting, and pay successfully delivered all activities for the election. All contracts were awarded on time and with minimal contract management issues or disputes requiring some form of resolution. Suppliers were very responsive to the added oversight measures when added into their contracts.

All submitted election worker timesheets were processed within the service standard of eight weeks after polling day. In fact, 98% of workers were paid within four weeks. As in any event of this magnitude, some workers' pay needed more attention as the files were incomplete when the returning officers were ready to close their offices. Returning officers have been working diligently to ensure that any missed timesheets or information is submitted promptly. Elections Canada continues to work on processing and resolving exceptional cases. The agency also processed 22,000 polling site payments by mid-November.
Elections Canada completed its strategic planning exercise that involved targeted consultations with external audiences such as disability groups, Indigenous people, students, new Canadians, academics, other agents of Parliament and political parties. These consultations were instrumental in the development of a strategic plan that targeted continuous improvement in how Elections Canada delivered on its mandate.

For 100 years, Elections Canada has been responsible for free and fair elections and has provided opportunities for Canadians to take part in their democracy. The 2020–28 Strategic Plan^{Footnote xvii}, which builds on the agency's past success, addresses contemporary perspectives, and provides a vision of the future, was finalized in spring of 2020.
Internal Services played a pivotal role in the administrative return to the agency of the Commissioner of Canada Elections. In collaboration with the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections, a framework was developed to guide and facilitate the re-integration.
In 2019–20, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer decided to delay its planned initiatives for the recruitment, training, and remuneration of election workers in favor of prioritizing the replacement of the aging core departmental financial management system.

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)
2019–20 Main Estimates	2019–20 Planned spending	2019–20 Total authorities available for use	2019–20 Actual spending (authorities used)	2019–20 Difference (Actual spending minus Planned spending)
40,968,036	40,968,036	57,610,681	55,759,213	14,791,177

The increased spending of $14.8 million is mainly due to improvements in the information technology infrastructure and services, as well as the delivery of the 43rd general election.

Human resources (full-time equivalents)
2019–20 Planned full-time equivalents	2019–20 Actual full-time equivalents	2019–20 Difference (Actual full-time equivalents minus Planned full-time equivalents)
229	239	10

The difference of 10 full-time equivalents is mainly a result of the requirement to hire additional temporary employees to deliver the 43rd general election.