Federal Elections: Canvassing and Electoral Signs in Condos (2025)
And they’re off to the races! Federal parties are rolling out their platforms, colourful signs are popping up everywhere and candidates have started to knock on doors. Boards and managers will soon receive requests from candidates wanting to access the condo for canvassing purposes. Some owners will ask to put up electoral signs and other will demand that they be taken down.
In this blog post, we go over the rules applicable to canvassing and to electoral signs during federal elections.
Candidates can access the corporation
In Ontario, section 118 of the Condo Act is clear about electoral canvassing. This section provides that a condo corporation cannot restrict reasonable access to the property by candidates for election to the House of Commons, the Legislative Assembly or an office in a municipal government or school board if access is necessary for the purpose of canvassing or distributing election material.
The Canada Elections Act goes further. Those in control of a condo building shall not prevent a candidate (or their representative) from:
- canvassing at the unit doors between 9 am and 9 pm;
- campaigning in the common areas between 9 am and 9 pm.
Some may be left to wonder what is the practical difference between canvassing and campaigning. The canvassing part is easy: going door to door and engaging each voter on a personal basis. It’s the campaigning part (in common area, no less) that leaves us wondering. Oddly enough, that term is not defined in the Canada Elections Act. Clearly, it must mean something different than canvassing. Generally, campaigning involves a wider, broader effort to rally support. Beyond this, it is not too clear how long they can stay there and what they are permitted to do.
Whatever these two expressions mean, corporations and board of directors must grant access to candidates or their authorised representatives between those hours. That is not to say that you must leave the front door unlocked. What you must do is grant access – presumably upon request.
Owners can put up electoral signs
What about electoral signs? Can a condominium corporation prevent owners from placing signs in their windows, on their balcony or elsewhere? The Condominium Act is silent on this but the Canada Elections Act isn’t. Section 322 of this Act provides that:
No condo corporation (or agents acting for it) may prohibit the owner of a condo unit from displaying election advertising posters on the premises of his or her unit.
Owners can therefore show their colour by placing electoral signs, but this right is limited to posting such signs on the premises of their unit. This may prevent owners from putting up signs on what would otherwise constitute common elements (including exclusive-use ones).
The Canada Elections Act also specifically provides that condominium corporations may set reasonable conditions relating to the size or type of election advertising posters that may be displayed on the premises and may prohibit the display of election advertising posters in common areas of the building.
We get two clues from this provision:
- any restriction must be reasonable;
- and there can be an all out prohibition against signs in “common areas”.
In circumstances where there is a debate on whether owners can post signs on their exclusive-use front yard or balconies, it probably is preferable to adopt restrictions as to size and type of signs, rather than ban them out entirely. So regulate the sign and consider requiring that the type of acceptable sign not damage property or not pose a risk to others. As with everything else: any restriction must be reasonable.
Penalty and fines
Anyone who wilfully contravenes section 322 (the one permitting election advertising posters) can be liable to a fine of up to $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than three months – or both. It probably is best to err on the side of caution.
Different rules for municipal or provincial elections
It is interesting to note that the rules applicable to a federal election are different from those applicable to provincial or municipal elections. In the case of provincial or municipal elections, corporations must consult provincial legislation, municipal by-laws and the corporation’s governing documents. We will leave this for another post.