Ever since Canada’s Confederation in 1867, there have been 44 general federal elections. Even though there are more citizens allowed to vote now than when the polls first started, there is still a gap in voter turnout. This gap has been studied over and over throughout the years, but there is still a significant number of Canadians who do not go vote. A crucial concept particular to a democratic regime is voting. This means that voting is important to the advancement of a functioning democratic society. So, the question is, why has voter turnout decreased over the years? 

In 1867, only a small amount of the population was eligible to vote. Consequently, only men over 21 years of age and property owners were the target audience for political actors at the time. Because of the small number of people who could vote in the first federal general election, the voter turnout ended up being 73.1 percent, which was a pretty high number for the first election. Another notable election was the one in 1958, with 79.4 percent, the biggest turnout of all the federal elections. This election was marked by Prime Minister Louis St-Laurent, leader of the Liberal Party, calling elections only a few months after the prior federal election. Then, compare the two most recent elections in 2019 and 2021, where the Liberal Party of Canada won a minority government. There was a much smaller turnout in 2021 than in 2019. Voter turnout plays an essential role in Canada’s democracy; citizens indirectly choose which party will be their leader for the next four years. However, with the critical drop in voter turnout, it can be argued that democracy is slowly feeling its downfall.  

The question remains: why aren’t people voting? Statistics Canada has conducted numerous surveys over the years asking why citizens did not go out to vote during the federal elections. One of the most common answers was everyday life or health reasons, which comprised 43 percent. With 24 percent claimed they were too busy, 9 percent said they were out of town, and 11 percent had an illness or a disability and could not make it to the polls. This poses a problem because a lot of the reasons for citizens not voting had to do with being too busy. Although not having time to vote is a valid reason, it should be a fixable problem. If the percentage of Canadians that cannot make it to the polls is so high, the federal government should find a way to solve the decrease in voter turnout. Over the years, there has been discourse about many different solutions. Online voting, which was already possible in Estonia, would allow Canadians to cast their ballot straight from their phone or computer. It would be as simple as filling out an online survey. However, online voting would require a legislative change in order to be enacted. With the use of online voting, there is an increase in the possibility of hacking. There are other possibilities to get more people out to vote, like increasing the access to early in-person voting. However, there is still the issue of some voters being out of town, or just in inability to move. Even if Elections Canada would allow the access to mail in ballots, not a lot of people are aware of this possibility. 

Even though there are solutions to increasing voter turnout, the problem rests that some people would rather avoid politics. In fact, a total of 32 percent of Canadians reported that they were indifferent to politics. This poses an issue regarding the education of Canadians in the field of politics. Additionally, there is little trust in the system. According to the Samara Democracy Reports, a series of studies that are meant to examine more closely the issues of the Canadian system, only 42 per cent of Canadians trust political parties. The issue rests on the federal government; they would have to implement legislation or add more civic education that would entice people to go out and vote.