Canada's election and what you need to know to vote Monday

Canadians are heading to the polls on Oct. 19 and things are different than they were during the last federal election because ofthe passing of the Fair Elections Act.

• Follow election night on our live results page

A lot has changed including the identification voters need to show to cast a ballot so here is your guide for voting day.

What to bring:

Elections Canada says you need to prove your identity and address to vote in person. Theyrecommendbringing your voter information card to avoid delays, but the card isn't required.

• One piece of ID is enough if it's your driver's licence, provincial or territorial ID, or any other government card printed with your name, photo and current address.
• Two pieces of other ID including a passport, library card, or credit card statement can be used together, as long as one has your current address. It does not have to be a photo ID.
• Here's a list of acceptable IDsfrom Elections Canada

If you got a voter information card in the mail, you should know that simply bringing that to the polling stationis not enough an important change under the Fair Elections Act. These cards cannot be used as identification.

In the last election, approximately 400,000 Canadians used their VICs to vote.

Therequirements may seem clear, but some voters have complained they're being asked for more identification than they have.

Where to go:

If you're registered to vote, you should have received a voter information card in the mail that will namethe polling station where youcan vote.

If you lost it or left it at home, you can also look up the information online, by entering your postal code here.

• Find your polling station
• CanadaVotes | About your riding
• Canada Votes | What are the polls saying?

When to vote:

Polls are open for 12 hours everywhere in the country, but those hours are staggered so that results will come in at roughly the same time, according to Elections Canada.

For example, when Toronto polls close, Vancouver will only have a half hour left to vote leaving little time for eastern results to influence western voters.

Also, keep in mind that mostemployers are legally required to give employees who are eligible to vote three consecutive hours to cast their vote on election day.

Here are the hours polls are open, depending on time zone:

• Pacific Time: 7 a.m. 7 p.m.
• Mountain Time: 7:30 a.m. 7:30 p.m.
• Central Time: 8:30 a.m. 8:30 p.m.
• Eastern Time: 9:30 a.m. 9:30 p.m.
• Atlantic Time: 8:30 a.m. 8:30 p.m.
• Newfoundland Time: 8:30 a.m. 8:30 p.m.

Francoise Enguehard, the spokeswoman for Elections Canada in the Atlantic provinces, said the delays that plagued the advance polls shouldn't be a problem on Monday.

She said voting on election day requires fewer steps and there are many more polls open than what was available during the advance polls.

"Elections Canada is ready," she said.

"If everybody comes to the poll at the same time, well, you will have to wait a little bit.

"But we shouldn't see the type of delays we saw during advance polls."