How To: Vote if You're a Student

by Apathy is Boring — March 30, 2010


Being a student offers that social fun, combined with life changing experiences. "Home sweet home" to independence:  goodbye delicious homemade food and hello Kraft Dinner. But being a student is so much more than that, it’s the time when we become politically curious, conscious and involved, the time when we start to form and test our opinions. 

Campuses, whether at a college or university, are normally exploding with student groups, movements, and causes which are often thrust into the faces of new students. This makes it difficult not to get involved, and become part of the “politics” going on all around us, especially when it comes to an election. But, most of us would like to know: "where do I even vote??"

Federal Voting 
  • where? 
    • (1) where your family lives OR
    • (2) where you go to school
  • how? 
    • Find your electoral district by going to Elections Canada.
    • Register.  You may automatically be registered in one riding, but by contacting Elections Canada, you can change this. (SOURCE)
  • not physically present to vote? 
    • If you still are voting in your home riding, or are overseas, you can get a special ballot*. Click here for more information. 

*Please allow six days minimum however for this special advance ballot.    

Provincial/Territorial Voting
  •  where?
    • (1) where your family lives OR
    • (2) where you go to school
  • how? 
    • Confirm you're on the list. You’ll know if you are listed as an elector when something called a notice of entry is sent to you by mail.
    • If not, find your electoral district, and register.
  • not physically present to vote?
    • Special ballot advance voting in a process similar to the federal elections.
    • Vote by proxy is appointing a qualified voter living in your home electoral district to vote on your behalf.
    • If you are a student in a visiting province, you may also be entitled to vote in the provincial elections of the visiting province as some provinces only require you to have residence for 6 months in a province to be eligible to vote
Municipal Voting
 
Please contact your municipality for details.  

Consult the following links for each province/territory (each number given is toll-free in Canada). 

Important Things to Remember
  • When registering, remember to provide proof of identity and proof of address. 
  • To be eligible to vote, you must be a Canadian Citizen and at least 18 by voting day. 
  • Bring ID when voting.

Now that you are armed with all these resources, you might as well go out and vote. If you need more information, call 1.800.463.6868, visit www.elections.ca or Election Almanac, another little useful site.

 

 

 

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A - L

Aboriginal peoples, Adjournment, Amendment, Back Bencher, Bicameralism, Bill, British North America Act (BNA Act), Budget, Bureaucracy, Cabinet, Cabinet Shuffle, Campaign, Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA), Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS), Caucus, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Chief Justice, Closure, Coalition government, Committee of the Whole, Confidence Motion, Constitution, Democracy, Department of National Defence (DND), Dilatory Motion, Dissolution, Division of Powers, Election, Electoral System, Executive, Federation, Filibuster, First Nations, First past the Post, First Reading, Fiscal Imbalance, Fringe Party, Government, Government Bill, Governor General, Hansard, Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition (Official Opposition), House of Commons, Ideology, In Camera, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Inuit, Joint Committee, Judiciary, Leader of the Opposition, Legislative Committee, Legislative Supremacy, Legislature, Lieutenant Governor, Lobbying,

M - Z

Majority Government, Métis, Minister, Ministry, Minority Government, Motion, Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD), North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Notice of Motion, Notice Paper, Order of Precedence, Order Paper, Paired Vote, Parliamentary Privilege, Party Convention, Party Whip, Point of Order, Political Party, Président, Previous Question, Prime Minister, Prime Ministers Office (PMO), Private Bill, Private Members' Bill, Privy Council, Proportional Representation, Prorogation, Prorogue, Question Period, Repatriate, Report Stage, Riding, Royal Assent, Sanction royale, Second Reading, Seigneurial system, Senate, Senate reform, Session, Sitting, Speaker, Special Committee, Speech from the Throne, Standing Committee, Subcommittee, Supreme Court of Canada, The Notwithstanding Clause, The Privy Council Office, The World Bank (WB), Third Reading, United Nations (UN), Voting, Westminster Model, World Trade Organization (WTO), Written Questions,

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