With the federal election four days away, Elections Canada is still looking for about 300 workers in northern Alberta.
As of Wednesday morning, returning officers were hoping to recruit about 25 people in the Yellowhead electoral district, 50 in each Lakeland and Fort McMurray-Cold Lake, and 150 in Peace River-Westlock.
The open positions include setting up and running the polls, greeting and directing voters, running the registration desk, and poll supervision. Pay ranges from $20 to $26, depending on the role, and is provided for training, which can be done virtually.
Although electoral ridings, on average, hire up to 500 workers, Elections Canada spokesperson Leanne Nyirfa said it is not uncommon for the agency to be looking for workers this close to election day – even as many as 150, such as in Peace River-Westlock.
“When you’re comparing it to about 500 positions, they’re still, you know, short a little bit,” Nyirfa said during an interview on Wednesday.
“The returning officers do have the authority to make adjustments and decisions to serve voters within their ridings and polling locations, depending on the number of staff that they have,” she added, explaining that could mean relocation or a change in assigned tasks. “But as mentioned, optimally, they could use another 150 workers to work on election day.”
Elections Canada counted a record number of votes in advance polls this year – 1.4 million more than were cast in advance polls in the last federal election. Nyirfa would not speculate what that will mean for Monday.
“I know that our returning officers are busy training staff. They’re busy ensuring that the polls will be set up on time,” she told CTV News Edmonton. “Our staff will be prepared and ready to work on election day and ready to serve electors and get them through the lineups as quickly as they can.”
