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Youth vote surged in 2015 election, but many were ‘too busy’: Statscan
ELECTION 2015
EVAN ANNETT

This article was published more than 8 years ago. Some information may no longer be current.

In 2015, the federal election that brought Justin Trudeau's Liberals to power produced the highest voter turnout in almost a quarter-century. Now, Statistics Canada has a clearer picture of who was behind that shift: Young people.

Comparing the 2011 and 2015 elections, the number of Canadians who reported that they voted increased 12 percentage points among people aged 18 to 24, and 11 percentage points among those aged 25 to 34, Statscan reported Monday. Every province saw an overall increase in turnout, with a total turnout of 77 per cent, compared with 70 per cent in 2011.

Of the 23 per cent who didn't vote, nearly a third said their reason was "not being interested in politics." Others cited health or lifestyle reasons like being too busy (23 per cent) or having an illness or disability (12 per cent).

Monday's data comes from questions included in November's Labour Force Survey, and vary from the official voter-turnout figures reported by Elections Canada, which recorded a 68-per-cent turnout in 2015, compared with 61 per cent in 2011.

The federal Liberals campaigned on a pledge to overhaul Canada's elections and abandon the first-past-the-post system.

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