The internet is used for pretty much everything these days, from simple undertakings like watching television and taking care of bills to playing games and reading. The net is becoming a part of many different industries, and federal and provincial government bodies are taking notice.

For instance, numerous agencies are allowing forms, like taxes, and other information to be submitted online and are also processing payments. As government leaders increasingly integrate the world wide web into their daily goings-on - like the rest of us - many think voting is the next element to move online.

Voting can be a hassle. Most of us work and have other things to do during election day, and we can't just skip out on our responsibilities. By the time we're out of the office, either the polls are closed or the line is long and we don't want to spend extended amounts of our free time waiting after just having worked all day. Since most of us are online throughout the day anyway, why not make it a little easier on us?

Dreams dashed
Unfortunately, CBC News reported that Elections Canada recently scrapped the plan to run a pilot program during the 2015 election cycle because of budget cuts. There's no word on when the project will be picked back up

Online voting is "the way of the future," Elections Canada chief electoral officer Marc Mayrand told CBC News back in 2011, but said that he thought this wouldn't become a reality during at least the next three cycles.

On top of the lack of funding for the next voting cycle, some administrators said they were concerned about protecting voters from data breaches when online, the news outlet explained. On the other hand, some experts have found that blunders occur at the polls anyway. Citing an Elections Canada report, CBC said that on polling day in 2011, more than 165,000 pieces of paperwork filled out by elections officials contained errors.

No less important to the government
Many think that it's only a matter of time before we'll be choosing the direction of our nation from the comfort of our own homes or offices via the internet. That said, there are plenty of other ways in which the government is taking advantage of its citizens' near-constant internet use; this bodes well for internet service providers (ISPs).

Many people filed taxes online during the last tax season. Vancouver's NEWS1130 reported that  the internet has provided a lot of relief for those who would have struggled manually. The news outlet reported that this allowed many Canadians to take their time and file on their own terms, rather than stressing out about deadlines, postal services and manual errors.