The Power of New Voices: New Canadians Take Their Voting Duty Sincerely

First-time voters like Waterloo's Amol Patil, who became a citizen recently, are leading a new wave of civic engagement of new Canadians into the 2025 federal election. Patil's issues are the economy, U.S. tariffs, and access to healthcare; he stressed voting as a duty so that his daughter can grow up in Canada: "This is the only country she'll know-I must act in all Canadians' best interests.".

 

Elections Canada reports that new Canadians cast ballots at percentages slightly lower (89% in past elections to 92% for born-in-country citizens) but is overcoming obstacles with multilingual resources and interpretation services in over 200 languages. Over seven million early votes have already been cast throughout the nation, with Ontario and Quebec's 200 seats most likely to determine the winner.

 

Sources: CBC News, Elections Canada, BBC