Canada election 2015: 11 things that changed since 2011's vote

If aweek is a long time in politics,imagine how much changed since Canadians last votedon May 2, 2011.

It's a whole newballgame:The turf, the rules and some of the players have changed. And sohas the electorate.

• 5 things that change when the campaign (really) starts
• 2015 federal election: 9 things to know

Here's some of what should makethe 2015 campaign so shiny, new and unpredictable for the next 11 weeks.

New ridings, different boundaries

You may no longer live where you thought you did, voters.

Since 2011, Elections Canada embarked on a massive readjustmentof riding boundaries and added 30 new seats, based on changes in Canada's population.

• INTERACTIVE:Check your new riding boundaries on our map

Ontario has 15 new seats. Alberta and British Columbia have six each, and Quebec has three. In other provinces, constituencieswereredrawn.

The new boundaries in Saskatchewan, for example, create several urban seats where seats previously mixedurban and rural polls.

More debates, new formats

What does an election debate look like when it's not organized by a consortium of Canada's major broadcasters? What does a campaign look like when there are more than justtwo (one in English, one in French)?

How do strategists balancerehearsal time with campaign touringwhen debates arescattered overa long campaign?

We'll soonfind out, starting Thursday with a debate hostedby Maclean's magazine's political editor Paul Wells. That will feature Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May.

Here are the others:

• Sept. 17: Debate in Calgary on the economy,organized by The Globe and Mail and Google Canada. Harper,Mulcair and Trudeauconfirmed.
• Date to be determined: Debate on foreign policy hosted by the Munk Debates. Harper and Mulcair confirmed, Trudeau also invited.
• Oct. 2: Debate on Quebec's TVA network (in French) moderatedby Pierre Bruneau. Harper, Mulcair, Trudeau and Bloc QubcoisLeader GillesDuceppe confirmed.
• Oct. 7: French debate organized by the consortium of broadcasters. Harper has not accepted the invitation, but Mulcair*, Trudeau, Duceppe and Mayexpected.
• Oct. 8: English debate organized by the consortium of broadcasters. Harper has declined, but Mulcair*, Trudeau and Mayexpected.

*On Friday, the NDP threatened topull out of the consortiumdebates if Harper didn't attend.

Fair Elections Act changes

Earlier this year, Parliament passed C-23, the Fair Elections Act: 242pages packed withchangesranging from campaign financingto voting requirementsto the investigation of election irregularities.

• 7 things you may not know about the Fair Elections Act

There'sa new set of rules onwhat identification voters need to show at the polls. Critics triedbut failed to stop these changes in court, arguing they could prevent some from voting.

In the aftermath of the robocallsaffair, new ruleswereadded for telephone campaigning.

The'Snapchat'election?

In the U.S., commentators suggestthe 2016 presidential vote will be "the Snapchat election," noddingto emerging social media many politiciansare trying out.

The killer app for campaigning in Canada in 2015 isn't clear.If 2008 was "the Twitter election," and if YouTube channels, Google hangouts and Facebook's massive reach have shaped campaigning since, what will emerge this time?

Watch for campaign innovations unthinkable four years ago. Social media has changed the way politically-engaged Canadians talk to each other.

Wary of 15-second soundbites? Brace for the shareable,six-second, looping Vine video.

Post-TV campaigning

Conventional television audiences, on the other hand, have fallen offsince 2011.

More opt to skiptelevision ads. Fewer watch the over-the-airprogramming that used to guarantee a sizeable viewershipand shared national experience for live, prime-timedebates.

How will parties adjust? How will it affect the national conversation?

Will anyone watch an entiredebate, or will votersjust see clips promoted in their Facebook feed?

Post-landlinecampaigning

More Canadians unplugged their phones as well.

That makes it harder for pollsters to buildtraditional randomsamples for public opinion research.

Parties still use phone banks to identify and mobilize supporters, but tools and strategies have changed.

• New mobile electionappsmean pressure's on for local campaigns
• Conservative app puts voter identification in campaign workers' hands

Hot for 2015? Online voter databases.

Most expensive ever?

It costs a lot to fight thefast-pacedadvertising air warthat'sshaping up. And the ground war touring a big country like Canada for twice as long takesserious money.

Without per-vote subsidies, partyfundraising is key.

• How a long campaign favours cash-rich Tories
• Longer federal election campaign would cost taxpayers millions more
• Are third party ads just the start of big money politics in Canada?

Thirtynew seatsand thesuper-sized length ratchetup Elections Canadaadministration costs. Mediawill be stretched too.

'Strong, stable majority government'

In thecampaigns Harper won, he could say he needed a mandate to fix things: first because Conservativesweren't in power, and later because his minority government lacked enough votes to pass exactly whatit wanted.

No one blocked the Tories for the last four years. Nowthey run on their record.

Prime Minister Mulcair?

When former leader Jack Laytonsaidhe was running for prime minister, people dismissed it. His successor,polls suggest, might lead Canada's first New Democratic government.

How will that affect Mulcair's strategy? The NDP has no experience campaigning from the front.

Thirdparty blues

Liberals, on the other hand, aren't used tocampaigning as thethird-placeparty.

Recent polls suggest they've slipped back in what still might beathree-way race.

Theseat count going in givesJustin Trudeaua steep hillto climb to the prime minister's office.

11 weeks

Will this longest-evercampaign be, as Conservative spokesmanKory Teneycke suggested Thursday, healthy for democracy?

Or will Canadians be lessthankeen to put down theircold drinks and think about politics in August?

At least anyone undecided has plenty of time to think it over.