MPs eye support for expat voters as PROC study on special ballot challenges wraps

2026/01/29 Leave a comment

Working on an analysis of these voters by riding, province and country of residence. Unfortunately, but also understandably, we don’t have party breakdowns of expat votes given confidentiality concerns. Committee report not released yet. Stay tuned:

A House committee study on challenges related to special ballot voting—particularly the experiences of expat voters—is coming to a close, and Liberal MPArielle Kayabaga says she has her sights on what more the foreign affairs department can do to help Canadians abroad cast their votes after hearing that some are paying out of pocket to ensure their ballots are counted.

“One of things that we’re looking to see is how Global Affairs Canada can partner with Canadians that live abroad to stay engaged … especially when there’s an election, where people can get up-to-date information through the already existing infrastructures that we have as services for Canadians abroad,” Kayabaga (London West, Ont.) told The Hill Times.

“The goal here is to really figure out ways to make it easy for Canadians to participate electorally and do their civic duty,” whether at home or abroad, Kayabaga said. “We have put forward helpful recommendations that will increase access and improve the processes in which Canadians vote, especially those who are voting with a special ballot.”

The Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) launched its study on special ballot voting on Nov. 6, 2025, and heard from 13 witnesses over the course of four meetings.

Last spring’s election saw the highest number of Canadians yet cast their votes by special ballot, use of which has more than doubled over the last decade. But it also saw some challenges, with multiple instances of domestically cast special ballots mistakenly left out of official vote counts, leading Elections Canada to launch an internal review. The agency published its resulting report, outlining three phases of changes it’s pursuing, on Dec. 15, 2025.

…Timothy Veale, director of Grits Abroad, and Daniel Scuka, a Canadian currently living in Germany, were the first to testify before PROC, and spoke to the barriers facing expat voters. Veale said he sees “three main barriers” overall: technical, as voting is done by snail mail, which is made more challenging during short, snap campaigns; structural, as international voters “have no direct representation in Parliament,” leaving many, “in effect, disenfranchised,” whereas some countries, like France, have “dedicated overseas MPs”; and political, in terms of a lack of will to effect change. He noted other diasporas, including French expats, “outvoteus by a wide margin.”

That disconnect is something Scuka, who works for the European Space Agency, also touched on, saying “few, if any, candidates commit time or resources” to engage international voters. Scuka supported Veale’s argument for the creation of dedicated MPs to represent overseas voters, and also noted the disconnect created by how votes are counted, noting his last address in Canadawas in Ottawa, a place he only lived for two years, and to which he feels little connection.

Multiple witnesses highlighted the onus put on international voters to ensure their votes are returned on time in the current mail-in system. Scuka said it “took several weeks” after the 2025 campaign began for his ballot to arrive, and he’s previously paid the equivalent of $60 to ensure it made it back in time. Both Veale and Scuka said they’re unsure whether their ballots were ultimately even counted last year.

Another witness, Lucia Kovacikova, a Canadian expert on expat voting currently teach ing in Wisconsin, said she, too, received her ballot “quite late inthe process” last election, and paid $120 to use a private carrier to ensure it got counted.

Kayabaga said reports of expats incurring fees in trying to vote are an example of something she thinks the committee can “look at and figure out ways to improve.”

Scuka said Elections Canada should automatically identify international voters as part of the list of electors it shares with candidates, and urged the committee to consider enabling “Elections Canada to offer any mix of in-person voting or ballot drop-off at consulates or embassies, ballot return via tracked courier envelopes that are potentially prepaid, and the issuance of ballots and returned material via a digital platform,” which would enable voters abroad to “track the status of their ballots.”

Per the Canada Elections Act, expats are allowed to drop-off sealed ballot envelopes at Canadian embassies, high commissions, or consulates, “a Canadian Forces base or to any place that the Chief Electoral Officer may designate.”It does not, however, currently provide for in-person voting.

As part of her remarks, Dalhousie University professor Lori Turnbull said she’d welcome “giving more thought to electronic voting” as an option for all Canadians, including expats—an idea Kovacikova backed. Turnbull also suggested Elections Canada could likely do more to engage voters abroad “well in advance” of an election.

Among the witness list were a number of experts on the voting experiences of other diasporas.

Appearing on Nov. 25, 2025, Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault highlighted that while there was comparative “high-interest” among international voters last election, “more than half” registered after writs were issued. Data shows the later people register, the lower the return rate, he said.

Global Affairs Canada’s Kati Csaba spoke to the support her department offers—support that’s impeded, though, by the fact “many Canadians living abroad aren’t in contact” with GAC. GAC’s current role, she said, “is simply to provide logistical support through Canada’s network of diplomatic missionsabroad,” including by answering “general questions” about voting (“more complex inquiries” are directed to Elections Canada), emailing or faxing applications to register on behalf of expats who need help, posting information on their website, and sharing relevant updates on social media.Voters can also use missions as their mailing address in receiving special ballots, or to drop off completed ballots, she noted.

Conservative MP Michael Cooper (St. Albert–Sturgeon River,Alta.) said following the study he overall feels assured that “the special ballot voting process is working.” “There may be some areas for some minor changes … with respect to seeing that special ballot kits are delivered in a timely manner for Canadians living abroad,” he said, noting as well that he still has some questions over how Elections Canada verifies that ballots it mails overseas are received by eligible voters. “That’s something that I think warrants some further examination.”

On the idea of adding MPs to represent international electors, Cooper was not convinced, and said he’s “not heard any real appetite for” such a change…

Source: MPs eye support for expat voters as PROC study on special ballot challenges wraps

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C-33 Election Act Amendments: Expatriate Voting, Minister Monsef’s Rationale for No Restrictions

2016/12/14 Leave a comment

Given my opposition to the proposed indefinite expansion of voting rights to Canadian expatriates who had lived at any time, no matter how short in Canada, I was curious to listen to Minister Monsef explain the government’s rationale for proposing an approach at PROC (Procedure and House Affairs Committee).

Monsef spent more time on the proposed indefinite granting of voting rights to Canadians who have lived once in Canada than the other provisions in the Bill.

This proposed approach undermines the value and meaningfulness of Canadian citizenship and does not appear as a specific commitment  in Minister Monsef’s mandate letter unlike the other provisions of C-33.

However, and arguably, it fits philosophically, within “repeal the elements of the Fair Elections Act which makes it harder for Canadians to vote” (the five year limit on expatriate voting dates from 1993 under the Chrétien government but was only enforced by the Harper government).

Her main arguments, similar to those made by advocates, were that ongoing globalization meant more Canadians, particularly youth, were living and working abroad, sharing Canadian values and bringing Canadian ways of doing things to the world, along with bringing the world back to Canada.

The right to vote was a fundamental right as “a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian,” but noted that the current case before the Supreme Court will still be heard.

The Minister stated that she had received many emails from expatriate Canadians who pay attention to what is happening in Canada and who want to participate in elections.

The government believes it is neither right nor fair to limit the vote to expatriates who have spent five years or less abroad. Granting the right to vote to the “over one million” Canadians abroad was only fair.

There was no real questioning on this provision by Committee members.

Bizarrely, she raised the issue about extending voting rights to the children of Canadians who had never lived in Canada, as an area that should be discussed in Committee.

It is hard to tell whether the floating of voting rights for Canadian citizens who have never lived in Canada is serious or is a trial balloon. In either case, it should be shot down, as it makes a complete mockery of our democratic system and citizenship to have such an extreme disconnect between residency and voting.

Nor should this trial balloon detract from the substantive issues regarding granting indefinite voting rights without any requirements, either time limits, declarations, or visits to Canada.

In terms of those plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case, either the Australian or New Zealand approach (declarations or visits) would address their concerns given their personal and active connection to Canada. But opening this to all, many if not most to not have this ongoing connection, is a mistake.

Sigh …

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