With Canada facing so many critical challenges, April 28 may be one of our country’s most important federal elections. If you’ve already had the chance to cast your vote in the advance polls, you’re among 7.3 million other Canadians who set a new record for advance voter turnout. For workers who have opted to wait until election day to vote—it’s your right to do so—we’ve got a run-down of everything you need to know so you can cast your ballot and ensure that your voice is heard.

Workers are entitled to 3 consecutive hours for voting

If you are scheduled to work on Monday, April 28, during the times that polls are open in your area, you must have at least three consecutive hours to vote (Canada Elections Act, Part 8, subsection 132). In Alberta, the polls open at 7:30 AM and close at 7:30 PM.

Let’s say you’ve been scheduled to work from 9 AM to 5 PM. This means that before work you only have 1.5 hours to vote, and after work, you only have 2.5 hours to vote, which is not enough time.

In this case, your employer must provide you with time off work to vote. That might look like coming in to work late at 10:30 AM, or leaving early at 4:30 PM, depending on what your employer decides will work best. Workers do not get to decide when they get take time off to vote during the day—this decision is up to the employer. 

If your work hours prevent you from having three consecutive hours to vote, it’s a good idea to discuss this with your employer before election day to ensure that you are both on the same page.

Pay deductions, penalizing employees and prohibiting employees from voting is not permitted

If you need to take time off from work to allow for three consecutive hours to vote, your boss is not permitted to deduct your pay. Employers are required to pay you the same amount that you would have made during your scheduled hours.

Employers are not permitted to penalize workers in other ways (for example, suspension or termination) if they take time off work to allow for three consecutive hours to exercise their right to vote. 

Finally, employers are not permitted to attempt to stop their workers from voting in elections by using their influence, through intimidation, or any other means.

(These restrictions are outlined in the Canada Elections Act, Part 8, subsections 133 and 134).

Exception for transportation industry

There is an exception to the rules around taking time off to vote for workers in the transportation industry. Employers in the transportation industry do not have an obligation to provide their workers with 3 consecutive hours to vote if the following four conditions are met, as outlined by Elections Canada:

• the employer is a company that transports goods or passengers by land, air or water;
• the employee is employed outside of his or her polling division;
• the employee is employed in the operation of a means of transportation; and
• the time off cannot be allowed without interfering with the transportation service.

What can workers do if their employer doesn’t respect their voting rights?

If your employer refused to allow you time off to allow for 3 consecutive voting hours on election day, or if your employer penalised you or deducted your pay for taking time off work to vote, it can be helpful to keep a record of what happened. This might look like paystubs, emails or text message records to or from your employer, or writing down a summary of a discussion with your employer after it occurred.

If your employer has interfered with your right to vote, penalised you for voting, or deducted your pay for taking time off work to vote, you have the option to make a complaint to the Commissioner for Canada Elections using this online form. You can read the complaint process in full prior to submitting a complaint. Here are some tips for filling out the complaint form:

1. On the first question of the complaint form, select: “To report a potential contravention” as the reason for contacting the Commissioner for Canada Elections.

2. For the second question, select “Time off work to vote” as the subject of your question or complaint.

3. To complete the form, fill in all other required information and provide a detailed description of how your employer prevented you from having 3 consecutive hours to vote, how they penalised you, or how they deducted pay for voting.