Elections Canada estimates that this year’s general election will cost taxpayers about $570-million, up from the $536-million preliminary estimate outlined in May 2024.

A spokesperson for the agency shared the data related to its preliminary estimates with The Hill Times on March 23. With an estimated 28.8-million electors able to participate, the cost per voter would be $18.61, according to May 2024 projections.

This year’s expected costs is a slight decrease from the 2021 federal election’s estimated delivery cost of $574-million (at 2025 prices) for 27.51-million registered electors. This was a COVID-19 year, however, and Elections Canada had to bear extra costs for pandemic precautions. 

In 2019, the total was $492-million at current rates for 27.4 million electors.

The agency reports a breakdown of costs incurred on actual election activities like renting polling stations, hiring staff, and more. It reimburses a portion of election expenses to candidates who get at least 10 per cent of the vote in their electoral district, and to the registered parties if they win at least at least two per cent of valid votes nationally, or five per cent of the votes in electoral districts where they have candidates.

It also spends millions of dollars on preparation activities for the election before the writs are issued. 

If the numbers were to be considered in absolute terms, without adjusting for inflation, the total costs over the years are outlined in the chart below.

The large jump in the costs in 2015 was partly due to the campaign period being 78 days—the longest in recent years—and some service improvements Elections Canada said it made on accessibility and other areas of compliance. The number of electors also went up from 24.26 million in 2011 to 25.94 million in 2015. 

The Hill Times

A version of this story first appeared in Politics This Morning, your go-to source for insider news, analysis, and updates on where all the key political players are that day. Get more insider coverage directly to your inbox from The Hill Times‘ editor Peter Mazereeuw and reporter Riddhi Kachhela in this subscriber-only daily newsletter. Sign up here.

Update: This headline and story was updated on March 24, 2025, to include Elections Canada’s new estimates for the election cost of $570-million, up from the $536-million estimated in May 2024.

 

Riddhi Kachhela is a news reporter covering all things politics for The Hill Times' daily subscriber newsletter, Politics This Morning. She studied journalism at Goldsmiths University of London, U.K., and worked as a reporter for local papers in London before moving to Canada. She has also previously dabbled in screenwriting and film production, and is a qualified chartered accountant. See all stories BY RIDDHI KACHHELA