 The creation of a national permanent register of electors was first proposed in the 1930s , but serious consideration for such a project was not established until the 1980s . In 1989 , the government of Canada appointed the Royal Commission on Electoral Reform and Party Financing , which in 1991 " recommended that provincial lists be used for federal purposes " . A working group was established in 1995 , which in March 1996 submitted the report The Register of Electors Project : A Report on Research and feasibility to the chief electoral officer of Elections Canada . It had six main conclusions : 
