Municipal Elections Act, 1996, S.O. 1996, c. 32, Sched.

• Jurisdiction: Ontario

Municipal Elections Act, 1996

S.O. 1996, CHAPTER 32
Schedule

Consolidation Period: From January 1, 2023 to the e-Laws currency date.

Last amendment: 2021, c. 5, Sched. 4.

CONTENTS

General

Definitions

1 (1) In this Act,

“by-election” means an election other than a regular election; (“élection partielle”)

“candidate” means a person who has been nominated under section 33; (“candidat”)

“certified candidate” means a candidate whose nomination has been certified under section 35; (“candidat certifié”)

“Chief Electoral Officer” means the Chief Electoral Officer who holds office under the Election Act; (“directeur général des élections”)

“clerk” means the clerk of a municipality; (“secrétaire”)

“compliance audit committee” means, in relation to a municipality or local board, the committee established under section 88.37; (“comité de vérification de conformité”)

“fund-raising function” means an event or activity,

(a) held by a candidate or under a candidate’s direction for the purpose of raising funds for his or her election campaign, or

(b) held by a registered third party or under its direction for the purpose of raising funds in relation to third party advertisements; (“activité de financement”)

“local board” means a local board as defined in the Municipal Affairs Act, including a police village; (“conseil local”)

“locality” means territory without municipal organization that is deemed to be a district municipality under the Education Act; (“localité”)

“office” means an office to which election is governed by this Act; (“poste”)

“owner or tenant”, in relation to an election, means a person who is the owner or tenant shown on the assessment roll of land assessed under the Assessment Act and a non-residential tenant of land assessed under the Assessment Act, whether or not the tenant is shown on the assessment roll, but does not include an owner or tenant of land who is entitled to use the land under a time share contract unless the person is entitled to use the land,

(a) on voting day, or

(b) for a period of six weeks or more during the calendar year in which voting day of the election is held; (“propriétaire ou locataire”)

“permanent register of electors” means the permanent register of electors for Ontario established and maintained by the Chief Electoral Officer under section 17.1 of the Election Act; (“registre permanent des électeurs”)

“prescribed” means prescribed by the Minister; (“prescrit”)

“qualifying address” means the address that qualifies an elector under section 17; (“adresse habilitante”)

“registered third party” means, in relation to an election in a municipality, an individual, corporation or trade union that is registered under section 88.6; (“tiers inscrit”)

“restricted period for third party advertisements” means the period described in subsection 88.4 (2); (“période de restriction pour la publicité de tiers”)

“tenant” includes an occupant and a person in possession other than the owner; (“locataire”)

“third party advertisement” means an advertisement in any broadcast, print, electronic or other medium that has the purpose of promoting, supporting or opposing,

(a) a candidate, or

(b) a “yes” or “no” answer to a question referred to in subsection 8 (1), (2) or (3),

but does not include an advertisement by or under the direction of a candidate or an advertisement described in subsection (2) or (2.1); (“publicité de tiers)

“time share contract” means a contract by which a person acquires the right to use a property for residential purposes,

(a) for a period of time each year, or other interval, and

(b) as part of a plan that provides for the use of the property to circulate among persons participating in the plan; (“contrat de multipropriété”)

“trade union” means a trade union as defined in the Labour Relations Act, 1995 or the Canada Labour Code (Canada) and includes a central, regional or district labour council in Ontario; (“syndicat”)

“voting day” means the day on which the final vote is to be taken in an election. (“jour du scrutin”) 1996, c. 32, Sched., s. 1; 1997, c. 31, s. 157 (1); 2002, c. 17, Sched. D, s. 1; 2002, c. 17, Sched. F, Table; 2009, c. 33, Sched. 21, s. 8 (1); 2016, c. 15, s. 1 (1-6); 2020, c. 23, Sched. 4, s. 1; 2020, c. 26, Sched. 2, s. 1.

Interpretation: presiding judge

(1.1) A reference in this Act to a presiding judge means a judge or a justice of the peace. 2009, c. 33, Sched. 21, s. 8 (2).

Deemed exception, third party advertisement

(2) An advertisement is deemed not to be a third party advertisement for the purposes of this Act if the person or entity that causes the advertisement to appear in any broadcast, print, electronic or other medium incurs no expenses in relation to the advertisement. 2016, c. 15, s. 1 (7).

Same

(2.1) An advertisement is deemed not to be a third party advertisement for the purposes of this Act when it is given or transmitted by an individual to his or her employees, by a corporation to its shareholders, directors, members or employees or by a trade union to its members or employees. 2016, c. 15, s. 1 (7).

Corporations deemed to be single corporation

(3) For the purposes of this Act, two or more corporations are deemed to be a single corporation,

(a) if one of the corporations controls the others, either directly or indirectly; or

(b) if all of the corporations are owned or controlled by the same person or group of persons, either directly or indirectly. 2016, c. 15, s. 1 (8).

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

1997, c. 3, s. 11 (1) - 24/04/1997; 1997, c. 31, s. 157 (1) - 01/01/1998

2002, c. 17, Sched. D, s. 1 (1, 2) - 01/01/2003; 2002, c. 17, Sched. F, Table - 01/01/2003

2009, c. 33, Sched. 21, s. 8 (1, 2) - 01/01/2010

2016, c. 15, s. 1 (1, 2, 4, 5, 8) - 09/06/2016; 2016, c. 15, s. 1 (3, 6, 7) - 01/04/2018

2020, c. 23, Sched. 4, s. 1 - 01/01/2023; 2020, c. 26, Sched. 2, s. 1 (1, 2) - 20/11/2020

Residence

2 (1) For the purposes of this Act, a person’s residence is the permanent lodging place to which, whenever absent, he or she intends to return. 1996, c. 32, Sched., s. 2 (1).

Rules

(2) The following rules apply in determining a person’s residence:

1. A person may only have one residence at a time.

2. The place where a person’s family resides is also his or her residence, unless he or she moves elsewhere with the intention of changing his or her permanent lodging place.

3. If a person has no other permanent lodging place, the place where he or she occupies a room or part of a room as a regular lodger or to which he or she habitually returns is his or her residence. 1996, c. 32, Sched., s. 2 (2).

Exception, students

(2.1) Despite paragraph 1 of subsection (2), a person may have residences in two local municipalities at the same time if,

(a) the person lives in one of the local municipalities in order to attend an educational institution, but not with the intention of changing his or her permanent lodging place; and

(b) the person’s permanent lodging place is in the other local municipality. 2009, c. 33, Sched. 21, s. 8 (3).

Rules if no permanent lodging place

(3) If a person has no permanent lodging place as described in subsections (1) and (2), the following rules apply in determining his or her residence:

1. The place to which the person most frequently returned to sleep or eat during the five weeks preceding the determination is his or her residence.

2. If the person returns with equal frequency to one place to sleep and to another to eat, the place to which he or she returns to sleep is his or her residence.

3. Multiple returns to the same place during a single day, whether to eat or to sleep, shall be considered one return.

4. A person’s declaration regarding the places to which he or she returned to eat or sleep during a given time period is conclusive, in the absence of evidence to the contrary. 1996, c. 32, Sched., s. 2 (3); 2016, c. 15, s. 2.

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

2009, c. 33, Sched. 21, s. 8 (3) - 01/01/2010

2016, c. 15, s. 2 - 09/06/2016

Application of Act

3 This Act applies to:

1. An election to an office on:

i. the council of a local municipality,

ii. the council of an upper-tier municipality, if the holder of the office is required to be elected by the electors of one or more local municipalities,

iii. a local board, if the holder of the office is required to be elected in the same manner as members of the council of a local municipality.

2. An election to obtain the assent of electors to a by-law as required or authorized by law.

3. An election to obtain the opinion of the electors on any question as required or authorized by law. 1996, c. 32, Sched., s. 3; 2016, c. 15, s. 3; 2020, c. 26, Sched. 2, s. 2.

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

2016, c. 15, s. 3 - 09/06/2016

2020, c. 26, Sched. 2, s. 2 - 20/11/2020

Transition

3.1 Despite any amendment made to this Act by Schedule 4 to the Helping Tenants and Small Businesses Act, 2020, the relevant provision of this Act, as it existed immediately before the coming into force of the amendment, continues to apply for the purposes of a by-election that commences before January 1, 2024. 2020, c. 23, Sched. 4, s. 2.

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

2020, c. 23, Sched. 4, s. 2 - 01/01/2023

Regular elections

4 (1) A regular election to fill offices shall be held in 2006 and in every fourth year thereafter. 2006, c. 9, Sched. H, s. 1.

By-laws and questions, municipalities

(2) A vote on a by-law or question that a municipality wishes to submit to the electors shall be combined with the next regular election, unless the municipality provides, by by-law, that the vote shall be held at another time. 1996, c. 32, Sched., s. 4 (2).

Questions, local boards and Minister

(3) Subsection (2) applies with necessary modifications to a vote on a question that a local board or the Minister wishes to submit to the...