Voter Information Campaign: Heritage languages

The Voter Information Campaign is a national multimedia campaign that provides Canadians with all the information they need on when, where and the ways to register and vote during the federal general election.

The campaign will be delivered in four phases based on important dates, themes and activities in the electoral calendar:

• Phase 1 – Registration (Day 33–24)
• Remind electors (Canadian citizens at least 18 years old) that they can check if they are registered, update their address information or register to vote by either using the Online Voter Registration Service, visiting their Elections Canada office or calling Elections Canada at 1-800-463-6868

• Phase 2 – Voter Information Card (Day 23-16)
• Inform electors that, if they are registered to vote, they should receive a voter information card in the mail telling them where and when they can vote in the federal election. Also inform electors to contact Elections Canada if they did not receive a card or if it contains incorrect information

• Phase 3 – Early Voting Options (Day 15–8)
• Inform electors of the different options to vote in the federal election, including at their assigned polling station on election day or on advance polling days, at any Elections Canada office across Canada, or by mail

• Phase 4 – Election Day (Day 7–0)
• Remind electors of the date of the election, operation hours of polling stations, that they can still register at their polling station on election day, and to bring accepted ID when they go to vote

Two new components will be included in the Voter Information Campaign for the next general election:

• Recruitment Campaign (enhanced from 2019)
• Raise awareness on paid poll worker positions and encourage potential workers to apply online at elections.ca/jobs

• Safety Campaign
• Provide information on the measures in place to ensure that electors can register and cast their vote safely, and on the safety measures in place for election workers

The campaign includes ads in English, French and Inuktitut and in 30 other Indigenous or heritage languages (depending on the medium). This helps maintain accessibility to essential information for people who do not have a strong understanding of either official language. Delivering messages to ethnic and Indigenous communities in their mother tongue can be perceived as more engaging.

Investments

Ethnic media: $1,271,646 (11% of total advertising campaign budget)

Indigenous media: $543,403 (4.5% of total advertising campaign budget)

Digital

• All four phases
• Target by device and browser languages, as well as user behaviours through programmatic targeting
• Target through heritage language websites and apps
  • WeChat placements to target 100% Chinese-Canadian users
  • Additional heritage language targeting through social media
  • Network buys through EightPlus Media, Ethnique Média, EMTV and Lingua Ads
• In-language ads: Tagalog, simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, Farsi and Punjabi
• 20 other languages targeted (serving English or French creatives)

TV

• Increase in programming compared with 2019
• Planned national and regional program-specific, in-language ads
  • Asian Television Network, Fairchild TV, Talentvision, Telelatino (TLN)
  • CHIN TV (Toronto)
  • OMNI Ontario, BC and Prairies (MB/SK/AB), ICI Télévision (QC)
• Three television phases: Voter Information Card, Early Voting Options and Election Day
• 30 languages

Radio

• Increase in stations and available programming compared with 2019
• Planned local stations in 13 cities across Canada, 75% of budget to Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver
• Three ethnic radio phases: Voter Information Card, Early Voting Options and Election Day
• 29 languages

Print

• Running two separate blended message ads:
  • Registration/Voter Information Card/Safety
  • Early Voting Options/ Election Day/Safety
• Selected only daily/weekly papers again for ease of message rotation and those that publish in-language
• Eight languages (same as 2019)

Other Communication Products

Select communication products to be used by community relations officers and stakeholders are developed in multiple heritage and Indigenous languages. The following resources are also available in digital format on the Elections Canada website:

The non-dated Guide to the Federal Election is available in 33 heritage languages and 16 Indigenous languages.

The ID tear-off sheet is also available in 33 heritage languages and 16 Indigenous languages.

*Language selection is based on media availability to reach the top heritage languages spoken in Canada based on Statistics Canada.