Political Financing Handbook for Candidates and Official Agents (EC 20155) – July 2021

About This Document

Introduction to the handbook

This handbook is designed to help candidates and their official agents in administering the candidate's campaign before, during and after an election.

This document is a general guideline issued pursuant to section 16.1 of the Canada Elections Act. It is provided for information and is not intended to replace the Act.

Elections Canada will review the contents of this handbook on a regular basis and make updates as required.

Note: The term "individual" used in this handbook refers to a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

What's new in this release?

What's new in recent releases?

Release	Where	Title	Summary
July 2022	Chapters 1 and 16	Contact information Submitting reports to Elections Canada	Local fax number discontinued and deleted.
July 2021	All	n/a	Contribution limits for 2021 updated in tables and examples. New examples brought in from other handbooks.
	Chapter 1	Role and appointment process—auditor	Added a reminder to ask auditors about their eligibility under provincial or territorial rules.
		Important reminders for candidates and their official agents	Corrected to state that anyone can pay the candidate's litigation expenses or personal expenses within certain limits.
	Chapter 2	Volunteer labour is not a contribution	Content added from OGI 2019-01, Volunteer Labour, about conditional compensation and capital assets as gifts. New content added on supporting documents. Examples added and amended. Standardized with compensation of workers in Chapter 8.
		Activities conducted by others in coordination with the candidate's campaign may be contributions	New section to clarify that a third party may be making a contribution when it acts to benefit a candidate.
	Chapter 3	Types of loans	Clarified that loans should have a term ending no later than three years after election day.
	Chapter 4	Irregular transfers	New section on consequences of irregular transfers, as per OGI 2020‑07, Irregular Transfers Between Affiliated Political Entities.
	Chapter 6	Fundraising expenses	New note on reporting fundraisers conducted by the registered association during an election period.
		Regulated fundraising events	Clarified when a leadership contestant ceases to be a prominent attendee.
			New content added on virtual events, as per OGI 2020-06, Regulated Fundraising Events.
	Chapter 7	Who can incur expenses?	Added a definition of what it means to incur an expense.
	Chapter 8	Uncancellable advertising or activities	New section on the exclusion of uncancellable advertising or activities from election expenses.
		What qualifies as election advertising on the Internet?	Clarified that boosting content originally posted for free is advertising. New content on when a social media influencer's posts are advertising.
		Mass text messaging	New section on telecommunications rules for text messages.
		Rental of a campaign office	Added example of installation expenses and prorated expenses.
		Cell phones	New section on election expenses related to personal and campaign cell phones.
		Campaign workers and related expenses	New position that return trips after the election period may be election expenses. New details on election expenses related to campaign workers. Standardized with volunteer labour in Chapter 2.
		High-profile campaigners and invited guests	New section on election expenses related to the participation of high-profile campaigners.
	Chapter 9	Candidate's Personal Expenses (various sections in the chapter)	New position that personal expenses over the limits set by Elections Canada should continue to be reported as personal expenses rather than other electoral campaign expenses.
		Childcare	Added examples of childcare expenses that may and may not be claimed as personal expenses.
	Chapter 10	Use of travel reward points	Content added on candidates using reward points for campaign travel.
		Meals and incidentals	Clarified that a candidate's per diem can be an election expense if it is part of their compensation.
	Chapter 13	What are "other" electoral campaign expenses?	Clarified when the early rental of a campaign office by a registered association is the candidate's electoral campaign expense.
		Replacement or repair of damaged property	New section on excluding some expenses for damaged property from election expenses.
	Chapter 15	Interacting with Third Parties in the Pre-election and Election Periods	New chapter on allowable and prohibited interactions with third parties in the pre-election and election periods.
	Chapter 16	Requesting a filing deadline extension	Content added on requesting an extension from a judge.
	Chapter 17	Reimbursements and overpayments	Clarified which sources an expense can be paid from to be eligible for reimbursement.
		Auditor's subsidy	Deleted the statement that campaigns mistakenly filing an auditor's report are never eligible for a subsidy.
	Chapter 19	Repayment of a surplus to independent or non-affiliated candidates	New content on repayments of surplus for missed electoral campaign expenses.
	Chapter 20	By-elections Superseded by a General Election (various sections in the chapter)	Updated with technical changes from Bill C-76.
	Chapter 21	Cancelled Election or Postponed Election Day	New chapter on financial administration when a writ is withdrawn or election day is postponed.

Contact information

Internet	elections.ca
Telephone	Political Entities Support Network 1-800-486-6563 Regular Hours Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Eastern time) Elections Canada General Enquiries 1-800-463-6868
Fax	Political Financing 1-888-523-9333 (toll-free)
Mail	Elections Canada 30 Victoria Street Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0M6
Email	General Enquiries info@elections.ca Political Financing Enquiries political.financing@elections.ca Electronic Financial Return (EFR)—Enquiries and Submissions efr-rfe@elections.ca

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