FTR Now
Employers Take Note: Certain Employees Entitled to Paid Time Off to Cast Vote in the 2025 Ontario Provincial Election
Date: February 3, 2025
The Ontario provincial election will be held on February 27, 2025. Under the Ontario Election Act (Act), eligible employees are entitled to three consecutive hours during voting hours to cast their vote. In some circumstances, this may require employers to provide certain employees with paid time off to vote.
For most of the province, voting hours will be between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Eastern time. For electoral districts that lie “entirely west of the meridian of 90º W. longitude,” (i.e., entirely in the Central time zone), voting hours will run between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.
The “Three Consecutive Hours” Rule
Under the Act, all employees who are Canadian citizens, 18 years of age or older, and residents of Ontario are entitled to three consecutive hours to cast their vote on election day during the voting hours outlined above. This allows individuals enough time to travel between work and their assigned polling station which is based on their home address.
Where an employee has three consecutive hours during voting hours that fall outside of their work schedule, the employer is not obligated to provide paid time off to vote.
Where an employee’s hours of work prevent them from having three consecutive hours to vote as required by the Act, the employee may request time off for voting in order to reach the three consecutive hours off. This time off is paid.
The examples below illustrate these two scenarios:
- Example 1 – Employee A lives in London and works from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The employer would have no obligation to provide time off work, even if requested, as the voting hours continue for four consecutive hours after the end of Employee A’s work day.
- Example 2 – Employee B also lives in London and works from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Employee B does not have a three-consecutive-hour voting period outside of work hours. Therefore, if requested by the employee, the employer must provide sufficient paid time off work to provide Employee B with a three-consecutive-hour voting period.
If an employee makes the request for time off to reach the three-consecutive-hour requirement, the employer must grant the request.
The Act says that the time off “shall be provided at the time of day that best suits the convenience of the employer.” Therefore, the employer can choose how to grant the request. In Example 2 above, the employer could allow Employee B to leave work at 6:00 p.m., for example, as this would provide Employee B with three consecutive hours to vote, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Payment of Wages
Where an employer must provide time off to an employee so they can vote, the employer may not make any deduction from the employee’s pay or impose any form of penalty. The employee must receive a full day of pay. This obligation applies regardless of the basis upon which an employee is paid. For example, if an employee is paid on a piece-work basis, the employer must pay the amount the employee would have earned had they actually worked the full day.
Leave for Returning Officers or Other Poll Officials
If an employee is a returning officer or is appointed by a returning officer to be a poll official, and they request leave for this role at least seven days prior to the commencement of the leave, the employer must provide unpaid time off for the employee to fulfil this role. This time off cannot be deducted from the employee’s vacation entitlement. The employer cannot impose any form of penalty on the employee who requests this leave.
Notable Bills “Dead” Upon Election
When an election is called in Ontario, bills that have not yet received Royal Assent automatically “die” when the legislature is dissolved. This process is known as prorogation. To become law, these bills must be reintroduced and restart the legislative process after a new provincial government is elected, which comprises of three readings before receiving Royal Assent.
The following provincial bills have “died” as a result of the election call:
- Municipal Accountability Act, 2024 (Bill 241) – This proposed legislation would have provided the government with the ability to establish a standardized provincial code of conduct for municipalities (see our FTR Now on Bill 241).
- Convenient Care Act, 2024 (Bill 231) – This proposed legislation would have required greater transparency on the use of third-party staffing providers in the health care industry (see our FTR Now on Bill 231).
For more information about your obligations under the Ontario Election Act, please contact your regular Hicks Morley lawyer.
The article in this client update provides general information and should not be relied on as legal advice or opinion. This publication is copyrighted by Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP and may not be photocopied or reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without the express permission of Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP. ©
