Glossary

DSSABs are responsible for delivering social services in Northern Ontario. DSSABs provide social services in both organized municipalities and Territories Without Municipal Organization (TWOMOs) in their districts. DSSAB members are elected by eligible electors in TWOMOs within the board’s service area or appointed by municipal councils.

An elector is a person who is eligible to vote in an Ontario provincial and/or local election.

Local elections include municipal, district social services administration board (DSSAB) and school board elections in Ontario. Local Elections are not administered by Elections Ontario. They continue to be the responsibility of municipal clerks, DSSABs and some school boards.

Municipalities in Ontario include cities, towns, villages and townships. They are governed by municipal councils, who are elected by eligible electors of that municipality.

A non-resident elector may own or rent property in a municipality or Territory Without Municipal Organization (TWOMO), in which they do not reside.

The Permanent Register of Electors for Ontario (PREO), more commonly known as the Register, includes the names and addresses of people who are eligible to vote in provincial and/or local elections in Ontario. 

A resident elector may own or rent their residence, live in a shared accommodation where they do not pay rent, or live in the municipality or Territory Without Municipal Organization (TWOMO) but not at a fixed address. They can be a resident in only one municipality or TWOMO area unless they are a student.

Public school boards are responsible for operating publicly funded schools in particular geographic regions of Ontario. They are governed by school board trustees, who are elected by eligible school board supporters.

Local electors may qualify to support one of four public school boards in Ontario. School board support is managed by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).

A spouse is a person who has the status of spouse as defined in any applicable legislation.

For local elections, students are entitled to vote in multiple municipalities if their permanent home and temporary student home are in different municipalities or Territory Without Municipal Organization areas. Students can update or add their “home address” to the Register as their permanent family home and list their temporary student home as an additional property they, or their spouse, own or rent.

For local elections’ purposes, a tenant must be entitled to use the land for six weeks or more during the calendar year of a local election, or on voting day.

A TWOMO is an area in Ontario that lies outside of the boundaries of an organized municipality. Social services and some emergency services in TWOMOs are provided by District Social Services Administration Boards.

The Register is a common way of referring to the Permanent Register of Electors for Ontario. It includes the names and addresses of people who are eligible to vote in provincial and local elections in Ontario.