Program directory · Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
Electoral Integrity and Regulatory Oversight
- Department
- Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
- Program code
- BGG04 (CEO)
- Core responsibility
- Electoral Administration and Oversight
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2021-22 · Appeared and later dropped
What it does
This program strengthens Elections Canada’s capacity to anticipate, detect, deter, and respond to incidents that could interfere with the electoral process or affect the outcome of an election. It also monitors overall compliance of electors, elections workers, and political entities with the Canada Elections Act. This program maintains the registries of political entities, provides financial tools, support and training to political entities, audit and publish financial returns, and maintain the online registry of opinions, guidelines, and interpretation notes on the application of the Act. It is also responsible for issuing subsidies and election expense reimbursements in accordance with the legislation.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Integrity and Regulatory Oversight | This program | 2018-19 – 2023-24 | $202M |
| Electoral Integrity and Regulatory Policy | Later program (name match, medium confidence) | 2022-23 – 2028-29 | $11.1M |
| Political Entities Regulatory Compliance | Later program (name match, low confidence) | 2022-23 – 2028-29 | $51.4M |
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | Employees (FTEs) 154, against 84 in 2018-19 (+83%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2019-20 | Spending $103M, against $14.2M in 2018-19 (+628%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2020-21 | Indicators added: Percentage of financial returns (all entities except third parties) that Elections Canada posts online within 10 business days of filing | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2020-21 | Indicators dropped: Percentage of candidates’ campaign returns that Elections Canada posts online within 10 business days of filing | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2020-21 | Renamed from “Electoral Integrity and Regulatory Compliance” to “Electoral Integrity and Regulatory Oversight”. | GC InfoBase program names by year |
| 2020-21 | Spending $4.1M, against $103M in 2019-20 (−96%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Spending $80.7M, against $4.1M in 2020-21 (+1874%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2022-23 | Planned spending $15.9M, against $80.7M in 2021-22 (−80%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
| 2022-23 | Appears to be split across: Electoral Integrity and Regulatory Policy; Political Entities Regulatory Compliance | Canada Spends name match across plans (an inference) |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | A deviation under 2% for key controls; a deviation under 11% for secondary controls. | 2019 | within tolerance | Met |
| 2019-20 | A deviation under 2% for key controls; a deviation under 11% for secondary controls. | 2020 | within tolerance | Met |
| 2020-21 | A deviation under 2% for key controls; a deviation under 11% for secondary controls by March 2020 | 2021 | Within tolerance | No result reported |
| 2021-22 | A deviation under 2% for key controls and 11% for secondary controls | 2022 | Within tolerance for key controls Outside tolerance for secondary controls Controls are within tolerance if they do not lead to a major finding or pervasive observation. One pervasive observation was made relating to a single secondary control. | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 95% | 2019 | 92% Targets were based on general election survey results. By-elections are not comparable to general election results nor should they be compared to other by-election results. | Not met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 95% | 2020 | 91% The aspired-to target for this indicator was set higher than the indicators of all past observed results. The 91% result for 2019–20 is slightly lower than the high result of 94% observed in 2015–16 but falls within the expected range, given other past results (91% in 2011–12 and 2017–18; 92% in 2016–17 and 2018–19). The result indicates that the vast majority of electors have a positive percepti… | Not met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 95% | 2021 | 93% Targets were based on general election survey results. The result for 2020-21 is based on a small sample of 2 by-elections held in the same region. By-election results are not comparable to general election results since they tend to vary depending on the electoral district and region surveyed. The result indicates that the vast majority of electors have a positive perception of the administratio… | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 95% | 2022 | 90% Electors: 90% Candidates: 78% The targets for this indicator were set higher than any results on record. The results obtained in 2021 are consistent with the historical results. The result for electors is similar to the level obtained in 2019, when 91% of electors had a positive perception of the administration of the general elections. The result indicates that the vast majority of electors have… | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | ≥ 100% | 2021 | — Changes to the processes and systems supporting this activity preclude the availability of this figure this year. | No result reported |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 100% | 2022 | 96% The reason for not achieving the target is as a result of technical issues encountered in the publication of a return. | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | ≥ 90% | 2021 | — It is recommended that this indicator be modified in future corporate documents, as it is currently a control rather than a performance indicator. Going forward, we will replace it by a PKI that better measures the desired outcome and for which data is readily obtainable. | No result reported |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 90% | 2022 | — This relates to horizontal audits of contributions only. Audits were ongoing at the end of the reporting year. | No result reported |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 100% – 100% | 2019 | 83% Targets are for general elections. By-elections are not comparable to general election results nor should they be compared to other by-election results. | Not met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 100% | 2020 | 100% | Met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
No indicators in the 2026-27 plan.
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $13.1M | $14.2M |
| 2019-20 | $98.3M | $103M |
| 2020-21 | $17.3M | $4.1M |
| 2021-22 | $16.8M | $80.7M |
| 2022-23 | $15.9M* | — |
| 2023-24 | $13.5M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 81 | 84 |
| 2019-20 | 168 | 154 |
| 2020-21 | 110 | 130 |
| 2021-22 | 127 | 137 |
| 2022-23 | 116* | — |
| 2023-24 | 109* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $13,129,119 | $11,745,960 | $11,651,344 | |||
| 2019-20 plan | $98,280,005 | $19,311,652 | $18,623,876 | |||
| 2020-21 plan | $17,333,401 | $13,983,082 | $14,077,146 | |||
| 2021-22 plan | $16,814,887 | $15,929,707 | $13,485,386 | |||
| Actual | $14,201,213 | $103,371,634 | $4,087,201 | $80,682,170 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
