With the federal election scheduled to take place on Monday, April 28, 2025, employers may need to provide employees with paid time off from work to vote. A failure to provide paid time off to an eligible employee can result in penalties.
Paid Time Off to Vote
Pursuant to the Canada Elections Act, individuals who are eligible to vote are entitled to three (3) consecutive hours during voting hours to cast their vote. If an employee does not have three consecutive hours during voting hours to vote because of their working hours, then an employer will be legally required to provide the employee with paid time off to ensure they have three consecutive hours to vote. An employer is not legally required to provide employees with paid time off if they have three consecutive hours outside of working hours to vote.
Employers should review the voting hours for each time zone to determine whether employees will have three consecutive hours before, during or after work to vote. Voting hours will be as follows:
- Pacific time zone: 7:00 am to 7:00 pm
- Mountain time zone: 7:30 am to 7:30 pm1
- Central time zone: 8:30 am to 8:30 pm
- Eastern time zone: 9:30 am to 9:30 pm
- Atlantic time zone: 8:30 am to 8:30 pm
- Newfoundland time zone: 8:30 am to 8:30 pm
Exemption for Some Transportation Employers
Employers who transport goods or passengers by land, air or water do not have to provide paid time off to employees to vote if they are employed in the operation of the transportation service outside of their polling division, if providing paid time off would interfere with the transportation service.
Unionized Workplaces
We recommend that workplaces with unionized employees review the provisions of any applicable collective agreement to determine whether the collective agreements provide additional or more favourable entitlements than those provided for under the above legislation.
Conclusion
Employers should review working hours and determine whether paid time off should be provided to eligible employees. If applicable, employers can schedule the time off within their discretion.
Footnote
1. In Saskatchewan, voting hours are from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
