Electoral Participation Act

The Electoral Participation Act (Loi sur la participation électorale), commonly known as Bill C-65, is a bill introduced on March 20, 2024, by Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc during the first session of the 44th Canadian Parliament.

Movement of fixed election date
The bill proposes moving the fixed election date of the 45th Canadian federal election from October 20, 2025, to October 27, 2025. According to the federal government the election date move is intended to avoid the federal election coinciding with Diwali, and the 2025 Alberta municipal elections.

One impact of this change is on Member of Parliament pensions. MPs need at least six years of service to qualify for the Member of Parliament pension plan. The one-week delay in the election date means that 80 MPs first elected in the 2019 Canadian federal election, held on October 21, 2019, will reach this six-year mark, qualifying for a pension, on the new proposed election day of October 27, 2025.

The change is expected to primarily benefit Conservative MPs, followed by Liberal, NDP, and Bloc Québécois MPs elected in 2019.

On May 31, 2024, NDP MP Lisa Marie Barron stated that the NDP would be moving an amendment at committee stage to remove the fixed election date change from the bill.