Site Menu2018–19 Departmental Plan
Planned Results: What We Want to Achieve This Year and Beyond
Core Responsibilities
Electoral Administration and Oversight
Description
Elections Canada'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.
Planning Highlights
In 2018–19, a number of key initiatives will support Elections Canada's commitment to continually improve the services it offers, so that Canadians can exercise their democratic right to vote, regardless of the barriers that may affect their ability to do so. These initiatives will also ensure that the agency continues to make the electoral process more inclusive and more accessible for all Canadians. They include:
- improving voting services by using new technologies such as electronic voter lists and by streamlining processes at the polls
- facilitating services for absentee voters by increasing options for voting by special ballot, such as on-campus voting
- making the voting process more convenient and accessible by using specialized tools to optimize the average distance between electors' residences and their assigned polling station
- using evidence-based results to inform decisions regarding the agency's modernization initiatives, by using upcoming by-elections to test new or redesigned tools, processes and procedures
- making registration and voting more accessible to Indigenous electors on reserves and in remote communities, by working with Indigenous organizations and community leaders to better understand their needs and the factors that influence their decision whether to vote
- ensuring that the online voter registration service is available to all electors, including those without a driver's licence or standard address
- ensuring, through a renewed voter information campaign, that electors receive the details they need about when, where and the ways they can register and cast their vote
- strengthening the National Register of Electors by modernizing data collection and working with new and existing partners to gather relevant information about under-represented groups, such as Indigenous voters and youth
- giving electors, election workers and electoral participants more timely and relevant information by migrating all Elections Canada's contact centres to an effective common platform
- offering a broader range of credible and reliable sources for electoral information, by creating clearer and more streamlined procedures to route public and media enquiries to subject-matter experts
- helping educators teach young people about democracy, government, electoral systems, civic engagement and active citizenship through the launch of a new civic education program
Other key initiatives will continue to support Elections Canada's dedication to protecting the integrity of the electoral system by ensuring that it remains fair, transparent and free of undue influence. These include:
- facilitating political entities' compliance with the financial regime in place by offering them a broader range of resources and training methods, and by modernizing the tool they use to prepare and submit their financial reports
- remaining well positioned to anticipate, detect and respond to emerging security concerns related to the administration of elections by strengthening the agency's cyber-security posture and maintaining collaboration with Canada's lead security agencies, including the Communications Security Establishment
- maintaining Canadians' confidence in Elections Canada's administration of elections and in the legitimacy of election results by detecting and addressing integrity-related patterns, trends and incidents
- supporting improvements to the electoral process by providing subject-matter expertise and advice to parliamentarians as they work on draft legislation
- helping election workers understand and meet their obligations by launching a redesigned training plan to support streamlined polling place operations
- using evidence-based results to inform decisions regarding the monitoring of compliance with electoral legislation by testing a new audit process during upcoming by-elections
At the same time, the agency will also continue to focus on:
- conducting any by-elections that are called in 2018–19
- wrapping up initial preparations for the 2019 general election by March 31, 2019, in order to test all new initiatives
- preparing the agency to implement any legislative changes adopted by Parliament in time for the 2019 general election
| Departmental Results | Departmental Result Indicators | Target | Date to Achieve Target | Actual Results | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–15 (six by-elections) | 2015–16 (42nd general election) | 2016–17 (one by-election) | ||||
| Canadians can exercise their democratic right to vote | Percentage of polling places that meet Elections Canada's key accessibility criteria | 100% | March 31, 2019 | 100% | 96% | 98% |
| Percentage of electors included in the National Register of Electors | At least 94% | March 31, 2019 | 92% | 93% | 93% | |
| 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 | March 31, 2019 | N/A | 90% | N/A | |
| At least 70% of electors are aware of the option to vote at an advance poll | March 31, 2019 | N/A | 64% | N/A | ||
| Percentage of electors' residences that are within a given road distance of their assigned polling place | At least 95% | March 31, 2019 | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| 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% | March 31, 2019 | N/A | 94% | 92% |
| Candidates: at least 85% | March 31, 2020 | N/A | 79% | N/A | ||
| Percentage of excess contributions that are returned to contributors or remitted to the Chief Electoral Officer | At least 90% | March 31, 2021 | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Percentage of candidates' campaign returns that Elections Canada posts online within 10 business days of filing | 100% | March 31, 2019 | 72% | 87% | 74% | |
| Election officers' level of compliance with procedures at the polls | A deviation under 2% for key controls | March 31, 2019 | N/A | Within tolerance | Within tolerance | |
| A deviation under 11% for secondary controls | March 31, 2019 | N/A | Within tolerance | Within tolerance | ||
| 2018–19 Main Estimates |
2018–19 Planned Spending |
2019–20 Planned Spending |
2020–21 Planned Spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| 94,074,700 | 94,074,700 | 72,489,231* | 67,597,806* |
*At this time, incremental expenditures related to the delivery of the 43rd general election are not included. Please see the "Elections Canada's Financial Framework" section of this report for further explanation.
| 2018–19 Planned Full-time Equivalents |
2019–20 Planned Full-time Equivalents |
2020–21 Planned Full-time Equivalents |
|---|---|---|
| 475 | 419* | 402* |
*At this time, incremental human resources related to the delivery of the 43rd general election are not included. Please see the "Elections Canada's Financial Framework" section of this report for further explanation.
The total planned spending and human resources for the next three fiscal years are summarized in the above tables.
Financial, human resources and performance information for Elections Canada's Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.footnote i
Internal Services
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: Management and Oversight Services; Communications Services; Legal Services; Human Resources Management Services; Financial Management Services; Information Management Services; Information Technology Services; Real Property Services; Materiel Services; and Acquisition Services.
Planning Highlights
In 2018–19, the initiatives relating to Internal Services will continue to support the agency's efforts to ensure that Canadians can exercise their democratic right to vote as part of a fair and transparent electoral process free of undue influence. These initiatives include:
- ensuring more robust, secure data and network environments, and enhancing the safeguarding of information by implementing a comprehensive security strategy, which will continue to strengthen the agency's security posture
- harmonizing business processes, adopting a more effective case management tool, and reducing the number of applications and knowledge bases that the agency uses in order to better deliver services to voters, field workers, suppliers and the general public
| 2018–19 Main Estimates |
2018–19 Planned Spending |
2019–20 Planned Spending |
2020–21 Planned Spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| 41,137,302 | 41,137,302 | 39,123,079 | 40,222,174 |
| 2018–19 Planned Full-time Equivalents |
2019–20 Planned Full-time Equivalents |
2020–21 Planned Full-time Equivalents |
|---|---|---|
| 208 | 202 | 204 |