Canada is in the midst of a federal election campaign that is expected to cost taxpayers $570 million between now and when voters go to the polls on April 28.
The cost estimate comes from Elections Canada, which said that the current campaign is likely to be “slightly less” than the last election held in 2021.
Chief Electoral Officer Stephane Perrault says much of the current campaign’s cost will come from Elections Canada hiring 250,000 poll workers for the April vote.
Perrault added that Elections Canada will set-up polling stations on 119 university and college campuses across the country to capture student ballots.
Elections Canada is also tripling the number of polling stations placed on Indigenous communities.
However, measures that were widely used during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, such as drop boxes and the ability to vote by mail, will not be in place for this election cycle.
Newly installed Liberal leader and Prime Minister Mark Carney dropped the writ on March 23, beginning Canada’s 45th general election.
The latest polling shows the federal Liberals and Conservatives in a statistical tie among decided voters with 39% support each.
The socialist New Democratic Party (NDP) is a distant third in the polls at about 9% support.
