Federal election expected to cost $570M, chief electoral officer says

OTTAWA — Elections Canada predicts the federal election will cost taxpayers roughly $570 million as the agency looks to boost turnout among student and Indigenous voters.

Chief electoral officer Stéphane Perrault said Monday that figure is “slightly less” than the price tag for the previous federal election in 2021, which Elections Canada said cost about $574.1 million in 2025 dollars.

Elections Canada is planning to hire roughly 250,000 workers for the election.

“We are ready to deliver a secure and accessible election on April 28,” Perrault told reporters.

Canada’s 45th general election campaign began on Sunday when Liberal Leader Mark Carney asked the Governor General to dissolve Parliament.

Perrault said Canadians can expect to learn who won before voting day ends, adding the unofficial results should be ready on election night after the preliminary vote count wraps up.

Elections Canada is boosting its outreach to encourage some populations to vote, even as it ends temporary voting measures that were in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The agency said it’s bringing back its Vote on Campus advance voting program and will have polling stations on 119 campuses across the country covering roughly 60 per cent of the student population, or 1.4 million voters.

Vote on Campus days will run April 13-16, while advance voting dates for the general population are set for April 18-21.

Perrault also said Elections Canada has been engaging with Indigenous communities over the past two years to offer more “flexible” polling options — particularly for advance voting — on reserves and in other remote or low-density areas.

Depending on community preference and capacity, he said, some polling stations might offer fewer advance voting days than the four mandated by the Elections Canada Act ahead of the April 28 vote.

Perrault said this upcoming election will see an estimated 400 polling stations set up in Indigenous communities, more than three times the number of stations in Indigenous communities in 2021.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the high demand for vote-by-mail options led Elections Canada to set up drop boxes where voters could drop off their mail ballots. Those drop boxes won’t be available this time.

Elections Canada is also not offering special advance voting days at long-term care homes during the campaign, though residents will still be able to cast their votes from a care facility on election day.

The 2025 federal election will see 343 ridings contested, five more than in the previous vote. Perrault said that almost 300 ridings have been modified in some way in this election.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2025.