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

16. Reporting

This chapter describes the financial reports that must be completed and submitted by set deadlines under the Canada Elections Act. It covers the following topics:

• Reporting obligations after election day
• Additional reporting
• Reporting gifts and other advantages
• Submitting reports to Elections Canada
• Requesting a filing deadline extension

Note: Financial forms and instructions are available on the Elections Canada website.

Reporting obligations after election day

Reports in this table must be submitted to Elections Canada, unless otherwise noted.

Reporting obligations after election day

Reports and documents	Description	Who is responsible
1 month after election day
Official tax receipts All unused and cancelled receipts and copies of used receipts, if applicable	Applies to paper tax receipts obtained from Elections Canada. Does not apply to tax receipts prepared using the Electronic Financial Return (EFR) software.	Official agent
3 months after election day
Candidate's Statement of Expenses (EC 20220) Signed, with all supporting documents	The statement lists the candidate's personal, travel and living, and litigation expenses that were reasonably incurred in relation to the campaign and have not been reimbursed by the campaign. It must be completed even if the expenses were nil.	Candidate Submitted to official agent
4 months after election day
Contributions to a Candidate at an Election—Information Return (T2093—CRA)	The official agent must use the electronic form available on the CRA website to report contributions received and receipted. A link to the form is posted on the Elections Canada website.	Official agent Submitted to Canada Revenue Agency
Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return (EC 20120) Signed, with all supporting documents	The candidate's return includes the following: campaign information and declaration, signed by the candidate and the official agent revenues and other inflows expenses and other outflows unpaid claims and loans financial summary	Official agent
Auditor's report (if applicable)*	After the official agent has completed the candidate's return, the auditor has to examine the candidate's financial records and give an opinion in a report as to whether the candidate's return presents fairly the information contained in the financial records on which it is based.	Official agent
Auditor's invoice (if applicable)*	Prepared and signed by the auditor.	Auditor and official agent
Checklist for Audits (EC 20011) (if applicable)*	The auditor's report has to include a completed checklist for audits in the prescribed form.	Auditor and official agent
Candidate's Statement of Expenses (EC 20220) Signed, with all supporting documents	The official agent must submit the expenses statement, together with the Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return.	Official agent
Candidate's Statement of Gifts or Other Advantages Received (EC 20053) (if applicable)	The candidate has to submit this report if they received certain gifts or other advantages during a prescribed period. See the Reporting gifts and other advantages section below.	Candidate

Additional reporting

In some cases, the reporting obligations do not end soon after election day. The campaign might still have unpaid claims or loans, or need to correct an error in the candidate's return. The following table summarizes these additional reporting requirements.

Reports in this table must be submitted to Elections Canada.

Reports in this table must be submitted to Elections Canada

Reports and documents	Description	Deadline	Who is responsible
Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return (EC 20120)
Corrected or revised, as requested by the candidate or official agent	The candidate or the official agent may become aware of a need to make a correction or report new transactions in a return that has been filed. In that case, the candidate or the official agent has to submit a written request for authorization to file a corrected or revised return.	30 days after the correction or revision was authorized	Official agent or candidate
Corrected or revised, as requested by Elections Canada	On review, Elections Canada may request the official agent to correct or revise the candidate's return.	Within a period specified by Elections Canada	Official agent
Updated after the final payment of a claim or loan	The official agent must send an updated Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return indicating the source of funds used to pay the claim or loan.	30 days after a claim or loan is paid*	Official agent
Candidate's Statement of Unpaid Claims and Loans 18 or 36 Months After Election Day (EC 20003)
Statement as of 18 months after election day	The statement is required if the campaign still has unpaid claims and loans 18 months after election day.	19 months after election day	Official agent
Statement as of 36 months after election day	The statement is required if the campaign still has unpaid claims and loans 36 months after election day.	37 months after election day	Official agent

Reporting gifts and other advantages

When to report gifts and other advantages

Definition	A gift or other advantage is money, property or services provided without charge or at less than commercial value. Note: This definition excludes monetary or non-monetary contributions or transfers, as defined in the Canada Elections Act and in the chapters of this handbook.
Important to know	Once a person becomes a candidate, there are restrictions on the gifts and other advantages that they may accept. Gifts or other advantages received from any one person or entity that exceed a total of $500 have to be disclosed. A candidate may not accept any gift or other advantage that might be seen to have been given to influence them as a member of Parliament. However, a candidate may accept a gift or other advantage given by a relative or as a normal expression of courtesy or protocol. A relative is a person related to the candidate by marriage, common-law partnership, birth, adoption or affinity. An affinity is a relationship other than by blood, especially a relationship by marriage or adoption. A common-law partnership is the relationship between two persons who are cohabiting in a conjugal relationship that has lasted for at least one year. A normal expression of courtesy or protocol is an expected act of showing thanks or politeness, such as gift exchanges with foreign delegates or the celebration of events such as holidays and birthdays.
Reporting gifts and other advantages	The candidate is required to report gifts received between: the date of winning the nomination contest or the day the election is called (whichever is earlier), and the day the candidate withdraws from the election, becomes a member of Parliament or, in any other case, on election day The candidate is responsible for filing the Candidate's Statement of Gifts or Other Advantages Received (EC 20053). The statement must be sent directly to Elections Canada within four months after election day or after a writ is withdrawn. This document is confidential, except when required for enforcement purposes.

Submitting reports to Elections Canada

Financial forms and instructions are available on the Elections Canada website.

Elections Canada has developed free software to help with the preparation of financial returns:
the Electronic Financial Return (EFR) software. It can be accessed from the Political Entities Service Centre on the Elections Canada website.

The EFR software is updated regularly. Check for the latest version before preparing a return.

Note: Using EFR to complete or update the Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return makes reporting much easier because EFR validates the entries and creates a submission file with the required fields populated.

Options for submitting reports to Elections Canada

Online

Log in Log in to the Political Entities Service Centre or create a new account at csep-pesc.elections.ca. Click on the Electronic Financial Returns tab. Campaign return Upload the submission files created by the EFR software (in PDF and XML formats) and any supporting documents. Follow the on-screen steps to apply digital consent and submit the return. Note: Other forms of electronic submission may not be accepted. If you are not using the Political Entities Service Centre to apply digital consent, handwritten signatures are required. Any other report Where signatures are required, sign the pages by hand and scan the report. Upload the report (in PDF format) and any supporting documents.

Mail or fax

Any financial reports Where signatures are required, sign the pages by hand. Send the reports to Elections Canada by courier, mail or fax. Send supporting documents to Elections Canada by courier or mail. Address Elections Canada 30 Victoria Street, Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0M6 Fax Political Financing 1-888-523-9333 (toll-free)

Requesting a filing deadline extension

Reports eligible for an extension

The Canada Elections Act specifies deadlines for submitting reports. The official agent or the candidate may apply for an extension if they cannot submit a report on time

If only a few invoices or receipts are missing, campaigns should submit the mandatory documents on time and send the missing documentation later.

The following table explains which reports are eligible for an extension and from whom.

Candidate reports—extension requests

Document to submit	Extension from Elections Canada	Additional extension from Elections Canada	Extension from a judge
Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return
Original submission, including the auditor's report (if required)	Yes	No	Yes
Updated after the final payment of a claim or loan at any time after election day	Yes	No	Yes
Corrected or revised, as requested by the candidate or the official agent	Yes	Yes	No
Corrected or revised, as requested by Elections Canada	No	No	No*
Candidate's Statement of Unpaid Claims and Loans 18 or 36 Months After Election Day
Statement as of 18 months after election day	Yes	No	Yes
Statement as of 36 months after election day	Yes	No	Yes

Note: If an elected candidate does not meet certain filing requirements, a possible consequence is that they will be unable to continue to sit or vote in the House of Commons until the documents are submitted or an extension is granted.

Submitting an extension request to Elections Canada

To apply for an extension from Elections Canada, the official agent or the candidate has to send the Request for Extension of Filing Deadline form. It must be received by Elections Canada no later than two weeks after the filing deadline.

Note: Only a judge may grant an extension requested more than two weeks after the deadline has passed.

Elections Canada will grant an extension unless the official agent's failure to provide the document was deliberate or was the result of a failure to exercise due diligence.

If Elections Canada refuses to authorize an extension or if the official agent or candidate is unable to file the required documents within the extended period, the candidate or the official agent may apply to a judge for an extension.

Submitting an extension request to a judge

To apply for an extension from a judge, an application must be submitted to one of the courts listed below. Any of the courts can be applied to, no matter where the campaign has its headquarters.

A copy of the application must be sent to Elections Canada by email or fax.

If the campaign sends a draft of its application to Elections Canada before filing it with the court, Elections Canada staff will verify whether the request will enable the campaign to fulfill its obligations and provide a letter confirming that it has been notified of the application.

Province or territory	Court that can receive the application
Alberta	Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta
British Columbia	Supreme Court of British Columbia
Manitoba	Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba
New Brunswick	Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador	Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador
Nova Scotia	Supreme Court of Nova Scotia
Nunavut	Nunavut Court of Justice
Ontario	Superior Court of Justice of Ontario
Prince Edward Island	Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island
Quebec	Superior Court of Quebec
Saskatchewan	Court of Queen's Bench of Saskatchewan
Northwest Territories	Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories
Yukon	Supreme Court of Yukon

In the application, the campaign has to request a new deadline for submitting the documents to Elections Canada. Sometimes the new deadline will be for a past date. This happens when a campaign submitted its mandatory documents late before requesting an extension and is now regularizing its filing.

Extension to future date	Extension to past date (retroactive)
The campaign can request any reasonable date as the new filing deadline, based on its circumstances. Make sure the date chosen gives the campaign enough time to meet its obligations; otherwise, a new application will need to be filed with the court.	The campaign must request the date that all mandatory documents were received by Elections Canada as the new filing deadline. Please contact the Political Entities Support Network to get the correct date.

Note: If the campaign is not using a lawyer to prepare its application, it may wish to contact the registrar of the court for information on the process or ask a legal clinic for sample documents.

 

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