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AppendixReport on the 2019 By-elections

Registered political parties during the 2020 by-elections

Table 1 – Type and number of positions filled* for the 2020 by-elections
Position Toronto Centre York Centre
Poll Workers
Central poll supervisor 105 129
Deputy returning officer 184 186
Information officer 163 149
Poll clerk 0 0
Registration officer 104 98
Special messenger 4 0
Subtotal 560 562
Other Election Workers
Additional assistant returning officer 0 1
Assistant automation coordinator 2 1
Assistant recruitment officer 7 1
Assistant returning officer 1 1
Automation coordinator 1 1
Community relations officer 5 2
Financial officer 1 1
Inventory clerk/Electoral material coordinator 5 4
Office clerk 10 44
Office coordinator 0 1
Office messenger 0 4
Receptionist 2 4
Recruitment officer 2 2
Returning officer 1 1
Service agent 22 9
Revision centre clerk 3 0
Service point supervisor 1 2
Support staff for office of additional assistant returning officer 0 0
Training officer 7 5
Witness–validation of results 2 0
Special Voting Rules Expansion–Special ballot coordinator 0 0
Safety officer 0 0
Hospital liaison officer 0 0
Assistant service point supervisor 2 0
Subtotal 74 84
Total 634 646

*Includes individuals on standby. Excludes trainees not retained.

Table 2 – Confirmed candidates, by electoral district
Electoral district Number Name Party affiliation
October 26, 2020, by-elections
Toronto Centre 9 Bawa, Baljit
Cappelletti, Dwayne
Chang, Brian
Clarke, Kevin
Ien, Marci
Komar, Keith
Paul, Annamie
Sharma, Benjamin Gauri
Znoneofthe, Above 		People's Party of Canada
Free Party Canada
New Democratic Party
Independent
Liberal Party of Canada
Libertarian Party of Canada
Green Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
No affiliation
York Centre 6 Bernier, Maxime
Saks, Ya'ara
Tiangson, Julius
Turmel, John the Engineer
Vásquez Jiménez, Andrea
Zavarella, Sasha 		People's Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
Independent
New Democratic Party
Green Party of Canada
Table 3 – Expenses limits for the 2020 by-elections
Electoral district Expenses limits for candidates
Candidate expenses limits for October 26, 2020, by-elections
Toronto Centre $110,649.38
York Centre $105,734.74
Registered political party expenses limits for October 26, 2020, by-elections
Toronto Centre $88,993.53
York Centre $77,071.40
Combined limit for parties with candidates in both electoral districts $166,064.93
Table 4 – Voter registration statistics for the 2020 by-elections, by electoral district
Electoral district Electors on preliminary lists (incl. Special Voting Rules (SVR)) Electors added1 Inter-ED address changes2 Moves within ED3 Other corrections4 Electors removed5 SVR Group 1 updates6 Electors on final lists7
October 26, 2020, by-elections
Toronto Centre 81,020 434 719 292 372 338 25 81,860
York Centre 69,865 493 221 681 329 164 127 70,542

1 Electors who did not appear on any lists of electors at the beginning of the by-election and were added during the by-election.

2 ED = electoral district. Electors who appeared on the lists of electors of one ED at the beginning of the by-election but changed their address during the by-election because of a move to another ED.

3 Electors who appeared on the lists of electors of one ED at the beginning of the by-election and changed their address during the by-election because of a move to another polling division. These figures also include administrative changes that the returning officer made to elector records during the by-election.

4 Electors who appeared on a list of electors and requested a correction to an error in their name or mailing address during the by-election.

5 Electors who appeared on a list of electors but were removed for one of the following reasons: the elector was deceased, the elector requested to be removed, the elector was no longer resident at that address or was not qualified to be on the list (for example, less than 18 years old or a non-citizen). Figures also reflect elector records removed as a result of a move to another ED during the by-election and duplicate records removed during the by-election, including during the preparation of the final lists of electors.

6 SVR = Special Voting Rules. This row indicates a change in the number of Group 1 electors registered under the SVR (Canadian electors temporarily residing outside Canada, Canadian Forces electors and incarcerated electors) during the by-election.

7 The total number of electors on the final lists is the sum of electors on the preliminary lists of electors, electors added, electors with inter-ED address changes and SVR Group 1 updates, minus removed records.

Table 5 – Polling stations and polling places, by category, for the 2020 by-elections
Electoral district Election day polling stations Election day polling places Advance polling stations Advance polling places Mobile polling stations
October 26, 2020, by-elections
Toronto Centre 126 43 15 6 1
York Centre 130 44 11 9 0
Table 6 – Ballots cast for the 2020 by-elections
Electoral district Ballots at election day polls Ballots at advance polls Voting by special ballot (SVR) Total valid ballots Total rejected ballots Total ballots cast
October 26, 2020, by-elections
Toronto Centre 16,526 8,037 642 25,205 118 25,323
York Centre 11,307 6,261 490 18,058 166 18,224
Table 7 – Special Voting Rules ballots cast for the 2020 by-elections
Electoral district Ballots issued Valid ballots Rejected ballots Ballots cast Ballots returned3
Group 1 (international, incarcerated) (October 26, 2020, by-elections)
Toronto Centre 777 194 6 200 25.74%
York Centre 170 41 2 43 25.29%
Subtotals 947 235 8 243 25.66%
Group 2 (local1 and national2) (October 26, 2020, by-elections)
Toronto Centre 564 448 7 455 80.67%
York Centre 535 449 4 453 84.67%
Subtotals 1,099 897 11 908 82.62%
Totals 2,046 1,132 19 1,151 56.26%

1 Electors whose applications were processed and whose ballots were counted at local Elections Canada offices. This includes electors who registered to vote in acute care facilities.

2 Electors whose applications were processed and whose ballots were counted at Elections Canada headquarters in Ottawa.

3 Total ballots cast divided by ballots issued.

Table 8 – Ballots cast in the 2019 general election and 2020 by-elections
Electoral district Election
2019 general election 2020 by-elections
Ballots cast Turnout Ballots cast Turnout
October 26, 2020, by-elections
Toronto Centre 54,896 66.1% 25,323 30.9%
York Centre 43,851 61.7% 18,224 25.8%
Table 9 – Valid votes obtained, by candidate
Electoral district Candidate and affiliation Place of residence Occupation Valid votes obtained Percentage of valid votes
October 26, 2020, by-elections
Toronto Centre Marci Ien (Liberal Party of Canada) Toronto, Ontario Journalist 10,581 42
Annamie Paul (Green Party of Canada) Toronto, Ontario Lawyer 8,250 32.7
Brian Chang (New Democratic Party) Toronto, Ontario Research Associate 4,280 17
Benjamin Gauri Sharma (Conservative Party of Canada) Toronto, Ontario Policy Advisor 1,435 5.7
Baljit Bawa (People's Party of Canada) Mississauga, Ontario Immigration Consultant 269 1.1
Keith Komar (Libertarian Party of Canada) Barrie, Ontario Bricklayer 135 0.5
Kevin Clarke (Independent) Scarborough, Ontario Servant 123 0.5
Dwayne Cappelletti (Free Party Canada) Laval, Quebec Construction Labourer 76 0.3
Above Znoneofthe (No Affiliation) Maple, Ontario Customer Service 56 0.2
York Centre Ya'ara Saks (Liberal Party of Canada) North York, Ontario Trauma Practice for Healthy Communities 8,253 45.7
Julius Tiangson (Conservative Party of Canada) Mississauga, Ontario Real Estate Developer and Investment Consultant 7,552 41.8
Andrea Vásquez Jiménez (New Democratic Party) Toronto, Ontario Consultant 1,046 5.8
Maxime Bernier (People's Party of Canada) Verdun, Quebec CEO of the People's Party of Canada 642 3.6
Sasha Zavarella (Green Party of Canada) Toronto, Ontario Shipping/Receiving Manager 461 2.6
John The Engineer Turmel (Independent) Brantford, Ontario Banking Systems Engineer 104 0.6
Table 10 – Complaints in relation to the 2020 by-elections, by type
Electoral district Type of complaint
Elections Canada central services Polling place accessibility Services at the polls Activities of political parties Services to electors
October 26, 2020, by-elections
Toronto Centre,
York Centre 		7 10 18 4 6

Table 11 – Adaptations made pursuant to subsection 17(1) of the Canada Elections Act

Under subsection 17(1) of the Canada Elections Act (the Act), the Chief Electoral Officer may, for the sole purpose of enabling electors to exercise their right to vote or enabling the counting of votes, adapt the Act to address an emergency, an unusual or unforeseen circumstance, or an error. These adaptations are only applicable for the period of the election during which they are made and for the 30 days after election day.

Provision Explanatory notes
Section 289 Purpose: Provided returning officers with more flexibility in the assignment of human resources to polling day operations.

Explanation: As a consequence of both the anticipated recruiting challenges and the physical distancing measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chief Electoral Officer authorized the recruitment of a single election worker for each table serving a polling division. This change required that experienced election officers be assigned to polling stations on polling day.

For the purpose of counting the votes cast at advance polls, which occurs on polling day, the adaptation allowed returning officers to assign election officers who did not work at advance polls. By doing so, the adaptation allowed returning officers to reassign experienced election officers who worked at advance polls to work at ordinary polls on polling day.

Table 12 – Instructions issued pursuant to subsection 178(2) and section 179 of the Canada Elections Act

Subsection 178(1) of the Canada Elections Act (the Act) provides that the Special Voting Rules set out in Part 11 of the Act apply to general elections only. However, subsection 178(2) stipulates that the Chief Electoral Officer may, by instructions, adapt Part 11 so that any or all of its provisions apply to a by-election. The Special Voting Rules as Adapted for the Purposes of a By-election (the Rules) constitute such instructions. On September 21, 2020, the Chief Electoral Officer made new Special Voting Rules as Adapted for the Purposes of a By-election in order to reflect in those Rules the changes made by Parliament—through Bill C-76—to various provisions found in Part 11 of the Act.

The Chief Electoral Officer may, pursuant to section 179 of the Rules, issue instructions to execute their intent in a particular circumstance. In general, instructions address issues with the Special Voting Rules process that are not contemplated by the Act or the Rules, or fill gaps in the Rules that would prevent electors who are otherwise qualified to vote from casting their ballot. These instructions can be made applicable for the purposes of a particular by-election only, or they can be made to continue to apply for future by-elections until rescinded by the Chief Electoral Officer or superseded by new instructions.

Provision Explanatory notes
Section 181

(Instructions issued for the purposes of the October 26, 2020, by-elections only)		 Purpose: Permitted the appointment of an additional special voting rules administrator to facilitate the counting of the votes at Elections Canada headquarters.

Explanation: Section 181 of the Act provides for the appointment of a special voting rules administrator, whose duties include supervising the counting of the votes at Elections Canada headquarters.

The scope of the duties assigned to the special voting rules administrator by the Chief Electoral Officer having increased, it is desirable to attribute to more than one election officer the specific tasks assigned by the Rules to the special voting rules administrator. The instructions provided for the temporary appointment of one additional special voting rules administrator, who was granted the authority to exercise the special voting rules administrator's duties in relation to the counting of the votes at Elections Canada headquarters.
Sections 227, 235, and 237

(New instructions)		 Purpose: Allowed electors a new opportunity to vote when circumstances outside the elector's control—such as a delay affecting the delivery to the elector of the special ballot voting kit—could have prevented the elector from voting by special ballot.

Explanation: The Rules provide that electors whose applications for registration and special ballot have been accepted may vote only under the Special Voting Rules.

Circumstances outside their control may prevent electors from voting by special ballot—for example, when a delay affected the timely delivery to electors of their special ballot voting kits. These instructions allowed the special voting rules administrator and returning officers to allow the elector to be given a new opportunity to vote and, when necessary, to annul the application for registration and special ballot made by the elector.
Sections 267 and 277

(New instructions superseding instructions issued at a previous
by-election)		 Purpose: Allowed electors to be given a new opportunity to vote, if they wanted to, in cases where they had been registered by election officers to vote by special ballot in the wrong electoral district.

Explanation: Section 6 of the Act provides for each elector's right to have their name included in the list of electors for the polling division—and, by extension, for the electoral district—in which they ordinarily reside and to vote at the polling station established for that polling division.

Electors are sometimes mistakenly registered by an election officer in the wrong electoral district. These instructions permitted electors who were registered and who voted in the wrong electoral district to vote again in the correct electoral district, if a by-election was ongoing in that electoral district. They also authorized election officers to set aside, during the counting of the votes, special ballots cast by electors in the wrong electoral districts.
Sections 267 and 277

(New instructions superseding instructions issued at a previous by-election)		 Purpose: Allowed electors to be given a new opportunity to vote, if they wanted to, in cases where it was believed that they could have improperly marked their special ballots because of erroneous information provided to them by election officers.

Explanation: The Rules set out the voting procedure that must be followed by an elector voting with a special ballot.

Electors voting by special ballot are sometimes mistakenly given erroneous information that may cause them to improperly mark their ballots. A ballot is marked improperly when the mark will lead to the ballot's rejection, pursuant to subsections 269(1) or 279(1) of the Rules. These instructions permitted electors to be given a new opportunity to vote in cases where election officers had provided them with erroneous information that may have caused them to improperly mark their special ballots. When the elector accepted to vote again, the instructions also provided for the setting aside of the envelope, unopened, containing the special ballot initially marked by the elector.
Sections 267 and 277

(New instructions superseding instructions issued at a previous by-election)		 Purpose: Allowed electors to be given a new opportunity to vote, if they wanted to, in cases where they had not signed the declaration shown on the outer envelope.

Explanation: An elector who votes under the Special Voting Rules must, after having marked the ballot or special ballot, place it in the inner envelope and seal that envelope, sign the declaration shown on the outer envelope, and place the inner envelope in the signed outer envelope and seal that envelope. An unsigned declaration will generally lead to the setting aside of the envelope pursuant to paragraphs 267(1)(b) or 277(1)(b) of the Rules.

Some electors in this situation inadvertently fail to follow this voting procedure. These instructions permitted electors to be given a new opportunity to vote. They also provided for the envelopes containing the special ballots affected by the errors to be set aside unopened.
Sections 267 and 277

(Instructions issued for the purposes of the October 26, 2020, by-elections only)		 Purpose: Authorized the procedure for the verification of electors' declarations to be conducted without opening the outer envelopes in certain cases.

Explanation: The special ballot voting procedure could eventually be modified to allow some electors to vote using a special ballot voting kit provided to them electronically. As part of this process, those electors would be required to print and sign a declaration form and to provide their own inner and outer envelopes. Amendments made to the Act by Bill C-76 allow for this additional flexibility in the administration of the Special Voting Rules. As a consequence, where the Act used to speak of the setting aside of outer envelopes, it now speaks of the setting aside of inner envelopes.

For the purposes of the October 26, 2020, by-elections, the declaration that had to be signed by electors who voted under the Special Voting Rules was always printed on the outer envelope provided to the elector by the Chief Electoral Officer. Therefore, the election officers who proceeded to verify the electors' declarations did not have to open outer envelopes to retrieve electors' declarations.

These instructions authorized an election officer who set aside an outer envelope to accomplish their duties by noting on the outer envelope—instead of the inner envelope—the reasons for setting it aside and by initialing the outer envelope.
Section 267

(Instructions issued for the purposes of the October 26, 2020, by-elections only)		 Purpose: Authorized the special voting rules administrator to validate the outer envelope received from an elector residing outside Canada who inadvertently voted using the special ballot voting kit received for a previous federal election.

Explanation: A special ballot voting kit is sent, upon the issue of a writ in relation to a given electoral district, to each elector whose name is entered on the International Register of Electors and whose last place of ordinary residence in Canada is located in that electoral district. The outer envelope provided in each special ballot voting kit does not identify the election for which it was issued but includes a unique code allowing the Chief Electoral Officer to associate each envelope to a specific election and elector.

An elector, whose name had been entered on the International Register of Electors for more than one election and whose last place of ordinary residence in Canada is in the electoral district of Toronto Centre (Ontario), transmitted his vote for the October 26, 2020, by-election using, by mistake, the outer envelope provided to him in respect of the 43rd general election instead of the outer envelope provided to him in respect of the by-election. As verifications led by the special voting rules administrator confirmed that the integrity of the special ballot voting process was not affected by the error, the instructions authorized the validation of the outer envelope received from the elector.