Complaints

General Information

Legislative amendments which came into force on July 4, 2025 prescribe new time limits for the Election Commissioner to review a complaint and/or conduct an investigation. Previously set at three years, the new provisions set a one-year time limit for issuing a letter of reprimand or an administrative penalty when the Election Commissioner is investigating a complaint from the public.

This one-year time period commences on the date a complaint is filed with Elections Alberta. This means complaints and allegations must be reported to Elections Alberta as soon as possible to allow the Election Commissioner sufficient time to assess and review them.

To initiate an investigation, the Election Commissioner must have “reasonable grounds to believe” an infraction has occurred.  This is a high threshold. Courts have described this threshold to mean a set of circumstances, which, assuming them to be true, would lead a reasonable person to the conclusion the breach had occurred.

This means information and evidence must be provided with complaints to allow the Election Commissioner to start an investigation. An allegation or speculation alone does not meet this threshold.

Complaints that fall short of providing reasonable grounds cannot be investigated, no matter how serious they may appear to be.