Mr. Speaker, the Elections Act provides that candidates may withdraw their nomination up to 8:00 p.m. on nomination day. The Northwest Territories and Nunavut are the only jurisdictions that provide for a late-hour withdrawal on nomination day. Other jurisdictions vary on the time that candidates may withdraw their nomination paper. As an example, Canada allows a withdrawal up to 5:00 p.m., PEI until 4:00 p.m. and Nova Scotia until 1:00 p.m. on nomination day.
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures notes that there is an associated cost with keeping electoral offices open late to accommodate an 8:00 p.m. withdrawal time. It had no problem with eliminating late hour withdrawals.