Election type

Canada Elections Act (current to March 26, 2018, last amended on January 1, 2016)

11. Any of the following persons may vote in accordance with Part 11:

(a) a Canadian Forces elector;

(b) an elector who is an employee in the federal public administration or the public service of a province and who is posted outside Canada;

(c) a Canadian citizen who is employed by an international organization of which Canada is a member and to which Canada contributes and who is posted outside Canada;

(d) a person who has been absent from Canada for less than five consecutive years and who intends to return to Canada as a resident;

(e) an incarcerated elector within the meaning of that Part; and

(f) any other elector in Canada who wishes to vote in accordance with that Part. [2000, c. 9, s. 11; 2003, c. 22, s. 100]

PART 11: Special Voting Rules

178. (1) The voting procedures contained in this Part apply to general elections only.

(2) The Chief Electoral Officer may, by instructions, adapt this Part so that any or all of its provisions apply to a by-election.

227. (1) After approving an application for registration and special ballot and after the issue of the writs, the Chief Electoral Officer shall send a special ballot, an inner envelope and an outer envelope to every elector whose name is entered in the register, at the address referred to in paragraph 223(1)(g).

(2) An elector shall vote by special ballot by (a) writing the name of the candidate of his or her choice on the ballot;

(b) placing the ballot in the inner envelope and sealing it;

(c) placing the inner envelope in the outer envelope; and

(d) signing the declaration on the outer envelope and sealing it.

228. An elector shall send the sealed outer envelope to the Chief Electoral Officer

(a) by mail or any other means; or

(b) by delivering it to a Canadian Embassy, Canadian High Commission or Canadian Consular Office, to a Canadian Forces base or to any place that the Chief Electoral Officer may designate.

Elections Canada’s official website also provides instructions for voting from abroad.