SLIDE DECK 10:

Federal Elections
How are candidates elected in federal
elections?
 What is a candidate?

• A person who competes for the

job of elected representative is
called a candidate.

• At the federal level, most

candidates are associated with
a political party.

• Candidates not associated with

a party are called
independents.
 What is a riding?

• Canada is divided into 338

geographic areas called ridings.

• The size and shape of ridings is

determined by population size,
geography and social factors like
culture and language.

• The number of people represented

in each riding is as equal as
possible.
 What is a voting system?
An voting system is the way in which voters choose their
elected representatives.

Different voting systems exist around the world..

 What is our voting system?

• Canada uses a system called First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) or

Single-Member Plurality.

• Only one member is elected per riding.

• The rules:
• Voters can only choose one
candidate on their ballot.
• The candidate that receives the
most votes wins (this is called
plurality).
 How are candidates elected?
An example of FPTP, in a riding with 100 ballots cast:

CANDIDATE NUMBER OF VOTES

Laura Diaz (Independent) 15

Rachel Grace (Pink Party) 40
Kevin (Yellow Party) 11
Alexia Patel (Peach Party) 34

Rachel wins because she has the most votes (40). The winning candidate
does not need receive support from the majority of voters – just one
more vote than any other candidate.
How are ridings distributed across Canada?
Province or Territory Number of Ridings
• There
British are
49 electoral districts
Columbia 42 for the general
election on September 24, 2018.
Alberta 34
Saskatchewan 14
Manitoba 14
Ontario 121
Quebec 78
New Brunswick 10
Prince Edward Island 4
Nova Scotia 11
Newfoundland and Labrador 7
Yukon 1
Northwest Territories 1
Nunavut 1
Total 338
How do I find my riding and candidates?

Visit: www.elections.ca (“My voter information” service)