11 April 2026
Grits Abroad calls for reform as millions of Canadian voters overseas face barriers
One vote overturned an election. Three million Canadians still struggle to cast theirs.
When the Supreme Court of Canada overturned a federal by-election decided by a single vote, caused by a mistyped postal code on an overseas mail ballot, it exposed a wider democratic gap that Grits Abroad is working to close. With advance and mail-in voting under way for three by-elections in Ontario and Quebec on 13 April, the group highlights the difficulties Canadians abroad face when they want to vote, or even donate to the party or candidate of their choice.
Grits Abroad estimates that about 2.9 million eligible voters live outside Canada. In the last general election, Elections Canada issued 101,690 voting kits to electors abroad. Only 57,440 were returned in time and counted, a turnout of roughly 2%. In the 2024 US federal election, about 11% of Americans abroad voted, according to the US Federal Voting Assistance Program, roughly six times the Canadian rate.
According to Dr Timothy Veale, Director of Grits Abroad, the gaps go beyond voting. Canadians without a Canadian address or phone number cannot donate to parties or candidates. “It's sadly paradoxical that a citizen can be ‘Canadian enough to vote, but not quite Canadian enough to donate.’”
The Supreme Court of Canada confirmed in 2019 that eligible Canadians abroad have the right to vote. Yet outdated registration processes, low awareness of eligibility and restrictive donation rules still leave many disengaged.
Grits Abroad works for voting access for all Canadians regardless of party, for solutions to pension problems of retirees abroad, for fair taxation and immigration processes, and for a genuine welcome for Canadians who return home.
Veale sees the Canadian diaspora as a valuable network that can help build Canada's own connections with the rest of the world, and calls for Canadians abroad to be fully included in democratic life. Distance does not reduce citizenship, but it makes voting harder than it needs to be.
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