Site MenuPolitical Financing Handbook for Nomination Contestants and Financial Agents (EC 20182) – December 2023
2. Starting and Closing the Nomination Campaign
This chapter describes the steps to start and close a nomination contestant's campaign. It covers the following topics:
- Starting the nomination contestant's campaign
- Roles and appointments—financial agent and auditor
- Closing the nomination contestant's campaign
Starting the nomination contestant's campaign
The steps to starting the nomination contestant's campaign are presented below in their most common order. Some steps are mandatory and have to be done before others.
1. Party or association decides to hold a nomination contest
A nomination contest is a competition to select a person who will be proposed to a registered party for endorsement as its candidate in an electoral district.
A registered party or a registered association may decide to hold a nomination contest at any time. Elections Canada only needs to be notified within 30 days after the selection date.
2. Check the eligibility rules
The registered party or registered association holding the contest sets the requirements that any person must meet to be a nomination contestant.
Under the Canada Elections Act, people in the following positions have to step down once they become nomination contestants:
- auditors of candidates, nomination contestants, leadership contestants, registered parties or electoral district associations
- financial agents of nomination contestants
3. Appoint financial agent
The nomination contestant must appoint a financial agent before:
- accepting a contribution, loan or transfer
- incurring a nomination campaign expense
However, if the contestant's campaign is not accepting contributions, transfers or loans or incurring nomination campaign expenses, the contestant does not have to appoint a financial agent.
4. Appoint auditor
A nomination contestant who has accepted contributions totalling $10,000 or more, or incurred nomination campaign expenses totalling $10,000 or more, must appoint an auditor without delay.
Note that transfers that the contestant sends to affiliated political entities are not nomination campaign expenses.
5. Open bank account
The financial agent has to open a separate bank account to be used exclusively for the contestant's campaign.
The account has to be with a Canadian financial institution or an authorized foreign bank, as defined by the Bank Act.
The financial agent must be named as the account holder, as follows: (name), financial agent. For example: "Peter Raymond, financial agent".
It is also acceptable to add the contestant's name to the name of the bank account. For example: "Peter Raymond, financial agent for Anne Thomas".
Note: Access to Banking Services by a Nomination Contestant's Financial Agent package, available on the Elections Canada website, provides information and a template memorandum from the contestant to facilitate opening a campaign bank account.
All monetary transactions in relation to the campaign have to go through the campaign bank account, except when personal or litigation expenses are paid directly by a person or group using non-campaign funds (see chapters 10 and 12).
Keep a copy of all bank statements, either paper or digital, for submission to Elections Canada after the contest.
The bank account has to remain open until the campaign fulfills all financial obligations.
Note: The bank account opened for the nomination contest cannot be subsequently used for a candidate's election campaign. The candidate's campaign must open a new bank account to accept or spend funds for the election, even before the election period starts.
6. Start incurring expenses and accepting contributions, loans or transfers
The campaign can start incurring expenses and accepting contributions, loans or transfers before the start date of the nomination contest, as long as the contestant has a financial agent and a bank account.
From a political financing perspective, a person is deemed to be a nomination contestant from the date a contribution or a loan is accepted or a nomination campaign expense is incurred.
A person remains a nomination contestant until the campaign fulfills all financial reporting requirements.
Role and appointment process–financial agent
Nomination contestant's financial agent
Role summary
- The financial agent is responsible for administering the contestant's financial transactions and reporting those transactions to Elections Canada as required by the Canada Elections Act.
- The contestant may have only one financial agent at a time.
- The financial agent's role continues until the contestant's campaign fulfills all financial reporting requirements.
| Who is eligible? | Yes/No |
|---|---|
| Canadian citizen who is at least 18 years old | Yes |
| Corporation or partnership | No |
| Candidate or nomination contestant | No |
| Election officer or member of the staff of a returning officer | No |
| Undischarged bankrupt | No |
| Auditor appointed as required by the Canada Elections Act | No |
| Person who does not have the capacity to enter into contracts in the province or territory in which the person ordinarily resides (e.g. a person with a diminished mental capacity) | No |
Appointment process
- The contestant has to appoint a financial agent before the campaign can accept contributions, loans or transfers or incur nomination campaign expenses.
- The financial agent has to sign a statement consenting to act in that capacity.
- The registered party or association that ran the contest usually reports the initial appointment of a financial agent using the Nomination Contest Report.
- A financial agent who steps down from their role should notify the contestant so that the contestant can appoint a replacement.
- If for any reason the financial agent is no longer able to continue in that role, the contestant must appoint a new financial agent without delay and notify Elections Canada within 30 days. The notice has to include a signed consent from the new financial agent.
- Use the Report of Updated Information—Nomination Contestant to report any changes.
- Although it is not a legal requirement, a financial agent should be experienced in managing finances. The role requires a strong ability to control, record and administer financial transactions as well as to create financial reports.
Role and appointment process—auditor
Nomination contestant's auditor
Role summary
- If the campaign accepts contributions totalling $10,000 or more, or incurs nomination campaign expenses totalling $10,000 or more, the auditor has to examine the campaign's financial records and give an opinion in a report as to whether the financial return presents fairly the information contained in the financial records on which it is based.
- The auditor has a right to access all documents of the campaign, and may require the contestant or the contestant's financial agent to provide any information or explanation that is necessary to enable the auditor to prepare the report.
| Who is eligible? | Yes/No |
|---|---|
| Person who is a member in good standing of a corporation, an association or an institute of provincially accredited professional accountants (CPA designation)* | Yes |
| Partnership of which every partner is a member in good standing of a corporation, an association or an institute of provincially accredited professional accountants (CPA designation)* | Yes |
| Candidate or their official agent | No |
| Election officer or member of the staff of a returning officer | No |
| Chief agent of a registered party or an eligible party | No |
| Registered agent of a registered party | No |
| Financial agent or electoral district agent of a registered association | No |
| Leadership contestant, their financial agent or a leadership campaign agent | No |
| Nomination contestant or their financial agent | No |
| Financial agent of a registered third party | No |
Appointment process
- The nomination contestant has to appoint an auditor without delay after the campaign accepts contributions totalling $10,000 or more, or incurs nomination campaign expenses totalling $10,000 or more. Note that transfers that the contestant sends to affiliated political entities are not nomination campaign expenses.
- The auditor has to sign a statement consenting to act in that capacity.
- The registered party or association that ran the contest usually reports the initial appointment of an auditor using the Nomination Contest Report.
- An auditor who steps down from their role should notify the contestant so that the contestant can appoint a replacement.
- If for any reason the auditor is no longer able to continue in that role, the contestant must appoint a new auditor and notify Elections Canada without delay. The notice has to include a signed consent from the new auditor.
- Use the Report of Updated Information—Nomination Contestant to report any changes.
- The contestant may have only one auditor at a time.
*Provincially or territorially legislated accounting bodies may require auditors to meet other professional criteria in order to perform this role, such as holding a public accounting licence in the province or territory where the political entity is based. This should be discussed with the auditor before the appointment.
Closing the nomination contestant's campaign
The steps to closing the nomination contestant's campaign are presented below in their most common order. Some steps may have to be done more than once.
1. Fulfill reporting obligations
The nomination contestant's campaign must fulfill all reporting obligations before it can close the campaign.
No reporting to Elections Canada is required if the campaign accepted contributions totalling less than $1,000 and incurred nomination campaign expenses totalling less than $1,000. (Note that transfers that the contestant sends to affiliated political entities are not nomination campaign expenses.)
See the Reporting obligations after the selection date and Additional reporting tables in Chapter 14, Reporting.
2. Manage unpaid claims and loans
Claims and loans must be paid within 36 months after the selection date (or election day, if the selection date falls within an election period or within 30 days before it). An updated campaign return must be submitted within 30 days after the final payment of a claim or loan.
If a claim or loan is still unpaid 36 months after the selection date (or election day, as described above), the financial agent or the contestant has to seek authorization from Elections Canada or a judge before paying it.
See Chapter 15, Managing Unpaid Claims and Loans.
3. File amended return(s)
An amended contestant's return has to be filed with Elections Canada to correct errors or omissions, or to report new transactions.
Corrections or revisions might be requested by Elections Canada, or by the contestant or financial agent.
See the Additional reporting table in Chapter 14, Reporting.
4. Dispose of surplus
After all financial obligations have been met, the campaign must dispose of any surplus of funds (including from the sale of its capital assets) and fulfill the surplus reporting obligations.
The surplus must be transferred to the official agent of the candidate endorsed by the registered party in the same electoral district, the registered association that held the nomination contest or the registered party.
See Chapter 16, Disposing of Surplus.
5. Close bank account
Once all unpaid claims, loans, other financial obligations and any surplus have been dealt with, the financial agent has to close the campaign bank account.
The financial agent has to send the final bank statement to Elections Canada.
Note: The bank account opened for the nomination contest cannot be subsequently used for a candidate's election campaign. The candidate's campaign must open a new bank account to accept or spend funds for the election, even before the election period starts.