Site MenuPolitical Financing Handbook for Electoral District Associations and Financial Agents (EC 20089) – August 2021
About This Document
Introduction to the handbook
This handbook is designed to help electoral district associations and their financial agents in the financial administration of the association.
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?
| Release | Where | Title | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 2022 | Chapters 1 and 9 | Contact information Submitting reports to Elections Canada |
Local fax number discontinued and deleted. |
| August 2021 | All | n/a | New contribution limits for 2021 updated in tables and examples. |
| Chapter 1 | Voluntary and involuntary deregistration of a registered association | Updated to cover associations deregistered because of a party merger and clarify reporting. | |
| Chapter 2 | Volunteer labour is not a contribution | Added an example of parliamentary staff volunteering for an association. | |
| Chapter 3 | Repaying and reporting unpaid loans | Added a reminder that an association may have to assume a candidate’s loan written off by the lender. | |
| Chapter 4 | Transfers sent by the registered association | Added a reminder that deregistered associations cannot send transfers, except in limited circumstances. | |
| Irregular transfers | New section on consequences of irregular transfers, as per OGI 2020-07,Irregular Transfers Between Affiliated Political Entities. | ||
| Chapter 5 | Regulated fundraising events | New content added on virtual events, as per OGI 2020-06, Regulated Fundraising Events. | |
| Chapter 6 | Who can incur expenses? | Added a definition of what it means to incur an expense. | |
| Staff of a parliamentarian | New section on the treatment of expenses when parliamentary staff perform work to support an association. | ||
| Auditor’s fee | Deleted the statement that associations mistakenly filing an auditor’s report are never eligible for a subsidy. | ||
| Chapter 7 | What is partisan advertising? | Clarified that a letter addressed to a named elector is not advertising. | |
| What qualifies as partisan 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. |
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| Partisan advertising in various situations | Added a note to explain the tagline requirement for Internet advertising. | ||
| Chapter 8 | Incurring election expenses on behalf of the candidate or the party | Added a reminder that some expenses incurred before an election, even if not election expenses, are the candidate’s electoral campaign expenses. | |
| Fundraising during an election period | Clarified details of how to treat expenses for fundraisers during an election. | ||
| Mass text messaging | New section on telecommunications rules for text messages. | ||
| Chapter 9 | Reporting obligations after registration and during the fiscal year | Corrected who can file a change of registry information. | |
| Requesting a filing deadline extension | Content added on requesting an extension from a judge. |
Contact information
| Internet | elections.ca |
|---|---|
| Telephone | Political Entities Support Network
Regular Hours
Elections Canada General Enquiries
|
| Fax | Political Financing 1-888-523-9333 (toll-free) |
Elections Canada 30 Victoria Street |
|
General Enquiries
Political Financing Enquiries Electronic Financial Return (EFR)—Enquiries and Submissions |