Was forwarded some interesting data on Canadian elections today and I thought that I should post it here in case anyone out there in the ether is searching for questions like “How long are elections in Canada?” or “What is the length of the writ period for Canadian elections?”.
According to the Elections Canada Act, an election must be no shorter than 36 days. In more technical terms, the writ must not be issued or dated less than 36 days before polling day. This changed from 47 to 36 days in 1997.
Length of Federal Election Campaigns (1867 to date)
| Between Parliaments | Date Dissolved |
Election Date | Length in Days of Election Campaigns |
|
1st – 2nd |
1872.07.08 |
1872.07.20 – 1872.10.12 |
– |
|
2nd – 3rd |
1874.01.02 |
1874.01.22 |
20 |
|
3rd – 4th |
1878.08.17 |
1878.09.17 |
31 |
|
4th – 5th |
1882.05.18 |
1882.06.20 |
33 |
|
5th – 6th |
1887.01.15 |
1887.02.22 |
38 |
|
6th – 7th |
1891.02.03 |
1891.03.05 |
30 |
|
7th – 8th |
1896.04.24 |
1896.06.23 |
60 |
|
8th – 9th |
1900.10.09 |
1900.11.07 |
29 |
|
9th – 10th |
1904.09.29 |
1904.11.03 |
35 |
|
10th – 11th |
1908.09.17 |
1908.10.26 |
39 |
|
11th – 12th |
1911.07.29 |
1911.09.21 |
54 |
|
12th – 13th |
1917.10.06 |
1917.12.17 |
72 |
|
13th – 14th |
1921.10.04 |
1921.12.06 |
63 |
|
14th – 15th |
1925.09.05 |
1925.10.29 |
54 |
|
15th – 16th |
1926.07.02 |
1926.09.14 |
74 |
|
16th – 17th |
1930.05.30 |
1930.07.28 |
59 |
|
17th – 18th |
1935.08.14 |
1935.10.14 |
61 |
|
18th – 19th |
1940.01.25 |
1940.03.26 |
61 |
|
19th – 20th |
1945.04.16 |
1945.06.11 |
56 |
|
20th – 21st |
1949.04.30 |
1949.06.27 |
58 |
|
21st – 22nd |
1953.06.13 |
1953.08.10 |
58 |
|
22nd – 23rd |
1957.04.12 |
1957.06.10 |
59 |
|
23rd – 24th |
1958.02.01 |
1958.03.31 |
58 |
|
24th – 25th |
1962.04.19 |
1962.06.18 |
60 |
|
25th – 26th |
1963.02.06 |
1963.04.08 |
61 |
|
26th – 27th |
1965.09.08 |
1965.11.08 |
61 |
|
27th – 28th |
1968.04.23 |
1968.06.25 |
63 |
|
28th – 29th |
1972.09.01 |
1972.10.30 |
59 |
|
29th – 30th |
1974.05.09 |
1974.07.08 |
60 |
|
30th – 31st |
1979.03.26 |
1979.05.22 |
57 |
|
31st – 32nd |
1979.12.14 |
1980.02.18 |
66 |
|
32nd – 33rd |
1984.07.09 |
1984.09.04 |
57 |
|
33rd – 34th |
1988.10.01 |
1988.11.21 |
51 |
|
34th – 35th |
1993.09.08 |
1993.10.25 |
47 |
|
35th – 36th |
1997.04.27 |
1997.06.02 |
36 |
|
36th – 37th |
2000.10.22 |
2000.11.27 |
36 |
|
37th – 38th |
2004.05.23 |
2004.06.28 |
36 |