Since January, the nine English-language school boards in Québec have been drawing up their electoral maps for the school elections scheduled for November 3, 2024. The division of their territory marks the beginning of the electoral process.
To determine its electoral map, a school board must define the boundaries of its electoral divisions. In the next English-language school board election, electors will vote for one of the people who will be nominated as a candidate for the position of commissioner in their school electoral division.
Watch for the publication of draft regulations
School boards have until June 1, 2023, to determine their electoral map. They will then inform their citizens of their project by publishing a notice in a newspaper distributed in their territory.
Electors can participate in this process. If you do not agree with the draft division, you have 15 days after it has been published to make your objection known, in writing, to the director general of the school board. If enough people oppose the proposal (as determined by the Act respecting school elections), the school board must hold a public hearing at which you can be heard.
To be able to oppose the draft division, you need to be entered on the list of English-language school electors. Feel free to contact us to confirm if you are entered on the list.
Effective representation: a fundamental democratic principle
To ensure fair and equitable representation of citizens at the Council of Commissioners, the division of the territory must meet two main criteria:
- Electoral divisions must be delimited so that each commissioner represents roughly the same number of electors.
- Electoral divisions must respect the natural communities within the school board’s territory. They must be based on geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic criteria. They must also take into account the location of educational institutions, physical barriers, population trends, municipal boundaries, territorial contiguity, area, and distance.
The Commission de la représentation électorale
The Commission de la représentation électorale ensures that the division process runs smoothly, with school boards and their electorate as the prime movers. It consists of the Chief Electoral Officer, who chairs it ex officio, and two commissioners appointed by the Assemblée nationale. The Commission is an independent institution that acts in a neutral and impartial manner.
To learn more about the division of the territory of English-language school boards into electoral divisions, you can consult the Commission de la représentation électorale section on our website.
You can also visit our website to find your English-language school board.
