Primatial Election – General Synod 2025

Primatial Nominees (includes biographical information and videos)

Appendix A Guidelines for the Conduct of a Primatial Election

The following appendices are included for information and convenience.

See Canon III, section 9.

The Nomination Process

The Order of Bishops
1. In accordance with section 13 of Canon III, the Order of Bishops will meet not earlier than one hundred twenty days and not later than thirty days before the date fixed for the election of the Primate and shall nominate three or more bishops for the office of Primate.
2. Prior to the meeting referred to at (a) all Bishops shall submit the information required of nominees to the office of Primate, together with a police check completed within the preceding twelve months, to the General Secretary as set out in these guidelines.
3. Approximately six months prior to the start of General Synod where a Primatial election will be held, the Primate (or Acting Primate) will seek nominations from the Order of Bishops. Members of the Order of Bishops may nominate a minimum of one and a maximum of three Bishops, certifying that they have the consent of those they have nominated.
4. On the day prior to the balloting the Primate (or Acting Primate) will share with the Order of Bishops the names of those who have been nominated. Additional nominations will be received until 10:00 P.M. that day.
5. On the day of the balloting with the Primate (or Acting Primate) presiding, a celebration of the Holy Eucharist will be held.
6. The Order of Bishops shall meet in camera without staff members.
7. The Secretary of the Order of Bishops shall keep a record of the proceedings.
8. All voting shall be by secret ballot.
9. The Primate (or Acting Primate) shall appoint scrutineers from among those not nominated.
10. No bishop may abstain from voting or submit a blank ballot.
11. On each ballot each bishop shall cast a vote for one nominated bishop by writing the name of the nominee on the ballot paper legibly.
12. When a bishop receives the votes of a majority of the Order of Bishops present, the name of that bishop shall be placed on the Nomination Report and removed from subsequent ballots.
13. Balloting will continue until a minimum of three bishops have been named in the Nomination Report, and either:
  1. on motion, it is resolved that the balloting cease, or
  2. five bishops have been named in the Nomination Report.
14. Upon receipt of a request from the Order of Clergy or the Order of Laity for further nominations during the Primatial Election, the Order of Bishops shall immediately repeat the nominating procedure and balloting will continue until one or more bishops have been named in the Nomination Report, and either:
  1. on motion, it is resolved that the balloting cease, or
  2. the names of three bishops have been placed on the Nomination Report.
  3. The Nomination Report shall include the information and confirmation of police checks provided to the General Secretary as set out above for dissemination to the Orders of the Clergy and Laity.
15. The names of bishops included in a previous Nomination Report shall be excluded from the nomination procedure undertaken pursuant to subsection 1 n). The nominees’ support persons as described in subsection two shall not be present.
In Preparation for the Election by the Orders of Clergy and Laity
1. All nominees named on the Nomination Report must submit a police records check and any other screening material requested by the General Secretary to his/her office prior to the start of General Synod.
2. Each nominee shall be permitted to identify one member of the Anglican Church of Canada who is not a member of General Synod to serve as their support person during the electoral process. Support persons will not be present when votes are taken and will withdraw with the Bishops.
3. Immediately following the nomination meeting the General Secretary shall send to all members of the Orders of Clergy and Laity the names of the nominees together with the following biographical information about each nominee:
  1. Current office and location
  2. Current photograph
  3. List of ecclesiastical offices held
  4. Dates of ordination as deacon, priest and bishop
  5. Other accomplishments which the nominee may wish to share (limited to one page)
  6. Any personal information that the nominee may wish to share (limited to one page)
  7. A statement by the nominee of his or her vision of the role of the Primate (limited to one page).
  8. Answers from each nominee to a series of up to three questions established by the members of CoGS who are not Bishops or Archbishops at the meeting of CoGS prior to the nominations (each answer to be not more than 250 words long).
4. The General Secretary shall work with the Secretary of the Order of Bishops to ensure that the format in which the information is communicated to the members of the synod is standardized and that the quality of the production of the communication regarding each nominee is uniform.
On the Day of the Election
1. All members of the Orders of Clergy and Laity shall register and receive either the means to register an electronic ballot or a paper ballot. In the event that any break in the election process occurs [for example, for lunch] all members of the Orders of Clergy and Laity shall again register when re-entering the meeting place.
2. The Primate shall appoint a chaplain to the Orders of Clergy and Laity and a separate chaplain to the Order of Bishops. The appointed chaplains shall be in attendance throughout the election with the orders whose spiritual care they have been entrusted with.
3. At the discretion of the Prolocutor and subject to the approval of the synod, persons who are not members of the synod (other than the nominees’ support persons who shall be permitted to attend) may be admitted to the place where the election is taking place, including representatives of other Churches, the press and other persons. The Prolocutor shall designate a separate area in the Cathedral for these individuals to sit apart from the Orders of the Clergy and the Laity.
4. No member of the Orders of the Clergy or Laity shall be readmitted to the Cathedral once departed other than those who depart during a general recess, for example, for lunch or in order to use washroom facilities.
5. All nominees’ support persons and other permitted observers shall also register their attendance and their names shall be listed in the minutes.
6. The synod and guests shall convene for a celebration of the Holy Communion.
7. Following the celebration of Holy Communion the Order of Bishops together with the support persons for nominees and the chaplain to the Bishops shall withdraw from the Cathedral and meet as set out herein.
8. Following the celebration of Holy Communion, during the Primatial election, the members of the Orders of Clergy shall be seated on the left and members of the Order of Laity on the right as viewed from the main entrance to the Cathedral.
9. The celebration of the Holy Communion and subsequent election shall be livestreamed both to the Bishops to the place where they have withdrawn and to the public. No member of the Order of Bishops or nominee’s support person shall communicate with any clerical or lay member of General Synod until an election is declared with the exception of the Primate/Acting Primate who shall communicate with the Prolocutor as described herein.
10. The Clerical and Lay Secretaries and the Assistant Secretaries shall take their places in the assembly.
11. The Order of Bishops shall withdraw and sit apart from the other members of the synod.
In the Orders of Clergy and Laity
1. The Prolocutor shall convene the sitting and preside.
2. The Prolocutor shall appoint two assessors, three lay scrutineers and three clerical scrutineers. The assessors shall sit adjacent to the Prolocutor to facilitate easy communication. The assessors need not be members of General Synod. The scrutineers shall not be members of General Synod but shall be members of the Anglican Church of Canada.
3. The names of the bishops nominated by the Order of Bishops shall be displayed for all to see.
4. The Prolocutor shall remind members that they cannot make nominations and that no debate is permitted on the taking of any ballot or its results.
5. Voting shall proceed in accordance with Canon III.
6. No member of the Orders of the Clergy or the Laity may abstain from voting or submit a blank ballot.
7. In the event that paper balloting is being used and a member loses their ballot it shall only be replaced with the permission of the Credentials Committee as advised by the Chancellor.
8. Before each ballot the Prolocutor shall report to Synod the number of members of each of the houses of Clergy and Laity who are present.
9. Before closing a ballot, the Prolocutor shall ask three times if all have voted and shall then declare the balloting closed.
10. When voting on a ballot is closed, the scrutineers shall count the votes or be present when the mechanized ballots are tallied and shall report, in writing, to the Prolocutor the number of votes cast for each bishop nominated and the number of blank and spoiled ballots, if any.
11. The results of each ballot shall be provided by the Prolocutor to the Primate/Acting Primate who shall privately communicate the results to the group of nominees and their support persons before the results are announced by the Prolocutor to the Orders of Clergy and Laity or by the Primate/Acting Primate to the Order of Bishops.
12. The results of each ballot shall be announced and displayed for all to see.
13. A complete report of each ballot shall be printed in the Proceedings of the synod.
14. No later than 72 hours following the declaration of an election, all ballots shall be destroyed.
In Full Session
1. Upon receipt of notification of an election, the Order of Bishops shall return and join the Orders of Clergy and Laity and the Primate or Acting Primate shall formally proclaim the Bishop elected be the Primate of The Anglican Church of Canada.
2. The time and place of the installation of the Primate shall be announced by the senior Metropolitan before the closing of the meeting or as soon thereafter as practicable.
3. The meeting shall be closed with a benediction by the Primate.

As adopted by the Council of the General Synod, November 2024

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