Federal Elections, 21 October 2019

In anticipation of an official invitation to observe the forthcoming federal elections in Canada, and in accordance with its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) undertook a Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) from 2 to 5 July 2019. The NAM included Lusine Badalyan, ODIHR Senior Election Adviser, and Keara Castaldo, ODIHR Election Adviser.

The purpose of the mission was to assess the pre-election environment and preparations for the parliamentary elections. Based on this assessment, the NAM should recommend whether to deploy an ODIHR election-related activity for the forthcoming elections and, if so, what type of activity best meets the identified needs. Meetings were held with officials from state institutions as well as with representatives of political parties, media and civil society. A list of meetings is annexed to this report.