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First Nations, Métis, and Inuit electors

Indigenous people in Canada consist of First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities. Each group has its own history and experience with voting in federal elections. Members of all three groups, however, identify similar barriers to electoral participation. To reduce these barriers and build trust, Elections Canada has made listening to Indigenous voices—and creating spaces for them to be heard—a top priority.

Indigenous Electoral Services Review

To help fulfill that priority, after the 44th general election the Chief Electoral Officer directed Elections Canada to review how it engages with and delivers public education and election services to Indigenous communities. Read more about the Indigenous Electoral Services Review.

As part of this review, Elections Canada has launched an education pilot program in Northwestern Ontario. This initiative, which is being led by locally based Indigenous program coordinators, will allow us to deepen our ties to Indigenous schools, communities and organizations in the region and respond to their learning needs and interests. We will also work with our Indigenous partners in the region to build a greater understanding of federal elections through in-person visits, information booths, workshops and other activities that help reduce barriers to the electoral process.

Ways to get involved

If you are part of an Indigenous community or organization in Northwestern Ontario and would like to learn more about Elections Canada's activities in the region, please email our Indigenous Outreach Coordinator, Tiffany Miller, at tiffany.miller@elections.ca.

You can also check out and order some of Elections Canada's information products and toolkits or connect with us to find out how to get more involved in the democratic process.

Access-related barriers

• The 2019 National Electors Study showed that Indigenous electors were less likely to be registered to vote in the 2019 federal election (84% compared with 89% of non-Indigenous electors). Because of lower registration rates, fewer Indigenous electors received a voter information card in the lead-up to the last federal election (86% compared with 93% of the general population).
• Several factors can make registering and voting more difficult for Indigenous electors:
  • First Nations, Métis, and Inuit electors are more likely to live in remote places without standard civic addresses (like reserves, hamlets and settlements).
  • Due to non-standard addresses, such as PO boxes, sections, concessions, ranges etc., Indigenous electors are less likely than the general population to have a piece of ID that proves their address.
  • Many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit electors who travel often between two or more communities (whether for school, work, hunting or other reasons) say it is challenging to confirm the place where they should register and vote.
• In its report on the 43rd federal general election, the Assembly of First Nations noted that the distance to polling stations continued to be identified as a barrier to voting. In many remote areas there is no public transportation and electors must have access to a private vehicle to get to the polls. Findings from the 2019 National Electors Study confirmed that Indigenous electors were less likely than the general population to find that it took a reasonable amount of time to get to the polls.
• In some regions, traditional languages continue to play an important role, especially among elders. While Elections Canada publishes voter information in 16 Indigenous languages, language barriers remain.

Motivational barriers

As noted above, each of Canada's First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities have their own unique history and experiences with federal elections. These histories have affected how Indigenous electors view federal elections and influence their decision to participate—or to not participate.

• Until 1960, First Nations people could only vote in federal elections if they gave up their status. Exceptions were occasionally made for members of the armed forces on active duty.
• Inuit people received the right to vote federally in 1950, however, access to voting services in their traditional lands was limited until 1962.
• Métis people have always had the right to vote federally, but in certain parts of Canada, geographical and social isolation made voting difficult.

In recent federal elections, Indigenous participation has increased in some areas. Notably, the 2015 general election saw the smallest gap between on-reserve turnout and general population turnout since 2004. The same election saw the highest ever number of Indigenous members of Parliament elected. While on-reserve turnout declined by nearly 10 percentage points in the 2019 federal election, it nevertheless remained higher than it had been throughout the 2000s.

Despite some progress, many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit electors continue to experience barriers like those listed above.

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