These new Canadians say they have a 'responsibility' to vote in this federal election

This federal election is a special one for some new Canadians because it's the first one they can vote in.

Amol Patil from Waterloo just became a Canadian citizen last month. His top concerns for this election are the economy, U.S. tariffs and access to healthcare.

"I definitely want to make sure that now that I am a citizen my voice is also heard and represented," he said, encouraging all new Canadians to head to the polls.

"I'm new to this country. I'm a new citizen. But for my daughter, this is the only country that she is going to know. She is a Canadian by birth and so it is also my responsibility to... make sure that I do what's in the best interest of Canadians overall, myself included."

Based on the results from the 2021 National Electors Study, Elections Canada has found new Canadians tend to be generally less passionate about local politics — and they're also slightly less likely to vote.

Out of all the voters who participated in the survey, about 89 per cent were new Canadians said they voted in the 2021 general election, which is three percentage points less than the 92 per cent of Canadians by birth who also voted in the same election.

The new Canadians who responded to the survey by Elections Canada in 2021 and said they did not vote in 2021 had a variety of reasons not to do so, ranging from having issues with the electoral process, long lineups and just everyday life making it difficult to get out and vote.

But in Jurjen Hettinga's case, he became a Canadian citizen mainly just to be able to vote.

He's been living in Kitchener as a permanent resident since 1982, so he's spent almost all his life in Canada. But until now, he said he's never felt like voting. Plus, he liked having his Dutch passport and didn't want to renounce it for a Canadian one.

In general, he says he has agreed with the direction local politics was going — but he says red flags went up for him when U.S. President Donald Trump's right-wing politics began seeping into Canada.

This will be the first federal election Hettinga is eligible to vote in.

"What's different this election? It's the right-wing populism," he said.

"I see [the Conservative Party] emulating the Republican Party in the States and it's a dangerous path to go down... That's not what I want this country to be. And if I sit back and do nothing, then I obviously can't complain when things change."

'A different perspective'

Eldrich Rebello has always been passionate about voting. He became a Canadian citizen in 2021 after living in Canada for about three years.

That would make this his first federal election in Canada.

Rebello says he's lived in several different countries before he moved to Guelph, and he has voted every time he's been eligible to, including the last provincial election in Ontario.

"You just need to live in the [Netherlands] to be able to vote at municipal elections. You cannot vote in the federal election unless you are a citizen, but municipal elections you can vote. So I have voted there. I voted in India twice, once state and once national elections. Never in Bahrain; that's out of the question. And I have voted in Canada also. So that's three countries so far."

Rebello has been so passionate about taking part in the democratic process that he even worked at a polling station during the provincial election.

He has a message for any Canadian taking their right to vote for granted.

"Travel to other countries, see how things work... visit countries like say Japan, South Korea. Taiwan is a great example of seeing how politics and and geopolitics can lead to some incredibly complicated situations," he said.

"What I plan to do with my future kids is take them to India and show them how bad things can be, or to show them the importance of voting, or what you get when you don't vote or when you're politically apathetic. It's simply a different perspective. It's simply broadening your worldview to put your situation in context."

Hettinga says the stakes are high this federal election.

"There are forces out there that are counting on you not to vote," he said.

"Knowing what Europe went through 80, 90 years ago — that history that can repeat itself. We're all seeing it kind of happen in the U.S. right now. It's not inevitable if you get out there and you vote."