With the federal election fast approaching, many young Canadians are gearing up to vote, some for the first time.
According to Elections Canada’s count of voters by age group, less than 50 per cent of electors aged 18-24 voted in the 2021 federal election, lower than any other age group.
For federal elections, that number is calculated by the number of votes cast divided by the number of registered electors.
SAIT Newsfile surveyed a dozen SAIT students, and 60 per cent say they will vote in the upcoming election while the rest didn’t know a lot about the election, or were uninformed about it.
For some of the students who said they will be voting, it’s about letting themselves be heard.
“It’s better for everyone to at least have some of their opinions heard, rather than just have none of their opinions heard,” said Corissa Crowther, a student at SAIT who will be voting in the election.
Other students reasons differed, between not wanting the government to end up the same as the United States’, wanting to make a better change for themselves and fellow citizens, and feeling like not voting is casting away your chance at making change.
In response to the low voter turnout in 2021, Elections Canada is launching a targeted digital campaign aimed at boosting voter engagement among young Canadians.
The campaign is said to increase awareness about voting, encourage people to vote, and drive social media interactions on platforms such as X, Snapchat, and Spotify.
The campaign will continue up until the day of the federal election on April 28.
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