3 Hours of Paid Time Off to Vote

Your boss at work has to allow you to take three hours of time off to vote today under the Canada Elections Act:

Consecutive hours for voting

132. (1) Every employee who is an elector is entitled, during voting hours on polling day, to have three consecutive hours for the purpose of casting his or her vote and, if his or her hours of work do not allow for those three consecutive hours, his or her employer shall allow the time for voting that is necessary to provide those three consecutive hours.

Time at convenience of employer

(2) The time that the employer shall allow for voting under subsection (1) is at the convenience of the employer.

The best part about this is that the time off is paid:

No penalty for absence from work to vote

133. (1) No employer may make a deduction from the pay of an employee, or impose a penalty, for the time that the employer shall allow for voting under subsection 132(1).

Hourly, piece-work or other basis of employment

(2) An employer who pays an employee less than the amount that the employee would have earned on polling day, had the employee continued to work during the time referred to in subsection 132(2) that the employer allowed for voting, is deemed to have made a deduction from the pay of the employee, regardless of the basis on which the employee is paid.

Get out and vote!