Voter turnout in Canada as a percentage of total population

Voter turnout is the percentage of registered voters who cast a ballot in an election. The following presents voter turnout figures for Canada's general elections as compiled by Elections Canada.

It is important to differentiate between the percentage of eligible voters and the percentage of voters relative to the entire population (see chart below). For example, in 1867, 73.1% of eligible voters voted, which represented only 8.3% of the total population. When women got the vote in 1918, 67.7% of eligible voters voted, which represented 35.8% of the total population, a huge jump from previous elections.

  • The average eligible voter turnout for Canada's general elections since 1867 has been 70.5%
  • The highest voter turnouts were in 1958, 1962, and 1963, when eligible voter turnout was 79% and over, roughly 45% the total population.
  • The lowest voter turnout on record was in 2008, when eligible voter turnout fell to only 58.8% (44.1% of the total population).
  • Eligible voter turnout in the 2011 federal election, at 61.1%, was the third lowest in Canadian history, but at 44.3% of the total population, the 12th lowest since women got the vote in 1918). In comparison, the 1968 election got 75.7% of eligible voters, representing only 41.1% of the total population.
  • Voter turnout rose sharply in the 2015 federal election to 68.3% of eligible voters, the highest turnout since 1993.
  • Voter turnout decreased to 67% in 2019 and to 62.2% in 2021. (In terms of total population it dropped 4.3% from 48.8% in 2019 to 44.5% in 2021).

When low turnout reflects disenchantment or indifference, the election may not be an accurate reflection of the will of the people. Low turnouts can lead to unequal representation among various parts of the population. In developed countries, non-voters tend to be concentrated in particular demographic and socioeconomic groups, especially the young and the poor.

The relationship between voting behaviour and voting turnout

Voter turnouts and voting behaviour are two fundamental elements of elections in order to have a fully functioning democracy. The voting behaviour of electorates has a large impact on the voter turnout and certain areas of behaviour can cause a low turnout in votes. The voter turnout for recent (post 2019) elections have declined and there is debate as to why this has happened. Examples of short term influences of voting behaviour on voter turnout in Canada are as follows:[1]

  • Voters perceptions of the state of the national economy and who will be the best person for improving the economy. This could also link to the appeal of the politicians policies and how effective they will be.
  • Voters personal economic situations.
  • Gendered voting, for example whether it is a female politician. There is evidence to suggest that women are more likely to vote for a female politician than a male politician and vice versa; this is known as gender consciousness.[1] This is due to idea that they share the same characteristics.[2]
  • Age.
  • Race and ethnicity.
  • Education levels of voters.

Voter turnout in Canada's general elections

Voter turnout in Canada 1867–2021[3]
Date of electionPopulation[lower-alpha 1]Number of electors on listTotal ballots castVoter turnout as percentage of electorsVoter turnout as percentage of total population
1867-08-073,230,000361,028268,38773.1%8.3%
1872-07-203,689,000426,974318,32970.3%8.6%
1874-01-223,689,000432,410324,00669.6%8.8%
1878-09-173,689,000715,279534,02969.1%14.5%
1882-06-204,325,000663,873508,49670.3%11.8%
1887-02-224,325,000948,222724,51770.1%16.8%
1891-03-054,833,0001,113,140778,49564.4%16.1%
1896-06-234,833,0001,358,328912,99262.9%18.9%
1900-11-074,833,0001,167,402958,49777.4%19.8%
1904-11-035,371,0001,385,4401,036,87871.6%19.3%
1908-10-265,371,0001,463,5911,180,82070.3%22.0%
1911-09-217,204,5271,820,7421,314,95370.2%18.3%
1917-12-177,591,9712,093,7991,892,74175.0%24.9%
1921-12-068,760,2114,435,3103,139,30667.7%35.8%
1925-10-298,776,3524,608,6363,168,41266.4%36.1%
1926-09-148,887,9524,665,3813,273,06267.7%36.8%
1930-07-288,887,9525,153,9713,922,48173.5%44.1%
1935-10-1410,367,0635,918,2074,452,67574.2%43.0%
1940-03-2610,429,1696,588,8884,672,53169.9%44.8%
1945-06-1111,494,6276,952,4455,305,19375.3%46.2%
1949-06-2711,823,6497,893,6295,903,57273.8%49.9%
1953-08-1014,003,7048,401,6915,701,96367.5%40.7%
1957-06-1016,073,9708,902,1256,680,69074.1%41.6%
1958-03-3116,073,9709,131,2007,357,13979.4%45.8%
1962-06-1818,238,2479,700,3257,772,65679.0%42.61%
1963-04-0818,238,2479,910,7577,958,63679.2%43.6%
1965-11-0818,238,24710,274,9047,796,72874.8%42.7%
1968-06-2520,014,88010,860,8888,217,91675.7%41.1%
1972-10-3021,568,31113,000,7789,974,66176.7%46.2%
1974-07-0821,568,31113,620,3539,671,00271.0%44.8%
1979-05-2222,992,60415,233,65311,541,00075.7%50.2%
1980-02-1822,992,60415,890,41611,015,51469.3%47.9%
1984-09-0424,343,18116,774,94112,638,42475.3%51.9%
1988-11-2125,309,33117,639,00113,281,19175.3%52.5%
1993-10-2527,296,85919,906,79613,863,13569.6%50.8%
1997-06-0227,296,85919,663,47813,174,69867.0%48.3%
2000-11-2728,846,76121,243,47312,997,18561.3%45.1%
2004-06-2830,007,09422,466,62113,683,57060.9%45.6%
2006-01-2330,007,09423,054,61514,908,70364.7%49.7%
2008-10-1431,612,89723,677,63913,929,09358.8%44.1%
2011-05-0233,476,68824,257,59214,823,40861.1%44.3%
2015-10-1935,702,90825,939,74217,711,98368.3%49.5%
2019-10-2137,601,23027,373,05818,350,35967.0%48.8%
2021-09-2038,246,10827,366,29717,034,32862.2%44.5%
  1. ↑ Population is based on Statistics Canada census data available to Elections Canada at the time of publishing the election report.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Anderson, Cameron D.; Stephenson, Laura B. (2011-01-01). Voting Behaviour in Canada. UBC Press. ISBN 978-0-7748-5936-3.
  2. ↑ Campbell, Rosie; Heath, Oliver (June 2017). "Do Women Vote for Women Candidates? Attitudes toward Descriptive Representation and Voting Behavior in the 2010 British Election" (PDF). Politics & Gender. 13 (2): 209–231. doi:10.1017/S1743923X16000672. ISSN 1743-923X. S2CID 151387108.
  3. ↑ "Voter Turnout at Federal Elections and Referendums". 16 June 2023.
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