✶ Political financing · Financement politique
Small cheques,
hard limits.
Only people can fund federal politics in Canada. Corporations and unions have been barred from giving since 2007, each individual may give at most $1,775 a year to a party, and every party and candidate faces a spending limit set by formula. Elections Canada publishes the returns.
Canada Elections Act · s. 363, s. 367
Who may
give.
Only an individual who is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident may contribute to a registered party, a riding association, a nomination contestant, a candidate or a leadership contestant (s. 363(1)). A contribution from anyone else must be returned within 30 days.
Corporations, trade unions and associations were barred, and the individual limit cut, by the Federal Accountability Act (Bill C-2), in force January 1, 2007. Gifts over $20 cannot be made in cash; cryptoassets, money orders and prepaid cards are not accepted.
The per-vote allowance (s. 445) was phased out after the first quarter of 2015. Public money now reaches parties through the contribution tax credit and the partial reimbursement of election expenses.
| Year | To each party | To a party's riding associations, candidates and nomination contestants, in total | To the leadership contestants in one contest, in total | To each independent candidate, per election |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $1,775 | $1,775 | $1,775 | $1,775 |
| 2025 | $1,750 | $1,750 | $1,750 | $1,750 |
| 2024 | $1,725 | $1,725 | $1,725 | $1,725 |
| 2023 | $1,700 | $1,700 | $1,700 | $1,700 |
| 2022 | $1,675 | $1,675 | $1,675 | $1,675 |
| 2021 | $1,650 | $1,650 | $1,650 | $1,650 |
Annual returns · 2019–2025
What the parties
raised.
Contributions reported in each party's annual return. The Conservatives have out-raised every other party in each year, and by 2025 they took $47.8 million from 154,029 contributors; the Liberals nearly doubled their 2024 total in the election year.
- Conservative
- Liberal
- NDP
- Green
- Bloc
- People's
| Party | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Average gift, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative Party of Canada | $30.9 million | $20.7 million | $26.5 million | $23.0 million | $35.2 million | $41.8 million | $47.8 million | $310 |
| Liberal Party of Canada | $20.6 million | $15.0 million | $18.1 million | $14.7 million | $15.0 million | $14.8 million | $29.3 million | $224 |
| New Democratic Party | $8.1 million | $6.1 million | $9.2 million | $6.3 million | $6.9 million | $6.3 million | $6.4 million | $248 |
| Green Party of Canada | $6.5 million | $3.4 million | $3.5 million | $2.0 million | $1.9 million | $2.2 million | $3.3 million | $285 |
| Bloc Québécois | $1.8 million | $1.6 million | $2.1 million | $1.6 million | $1.8 million | $2.0 million | $2.2 million | $199 |
| People's Party of Canada | $2.0 million | $963,059 | $2.9 million | $1.6 million | $1.6 million | $1.2 million | $938,176 | $195 |
45th general election · April 28, 2025
Spending against
the limit.
A party's limit is $0.735 for every elector in the ridings where it ran a candidate, indexed for inflation (s. 430): parties running everywhere get about the same ceiling, and the Bloc, running only in Quebec, less than a quarter of it. The Conservatives spent 99% of theirs, the Liberals 95%.
- Liberal $34.2 million of $35.8 million · 95%
- Conservative $35.4 million of $35.9 million · 99%
- Bloc $2.5 million of $8.4 million · 30%
- NDP $23.9 million of $35.9 million · 67%
- Green $1.7 million of $24.7 million · 7%
- People's $181,075 of $26.4 million · 1%
Bar length: the party's limit. Filled part: election expenses reported in Part 3 of its election expenses return.
Reimbursement
A registered party gets back 50% of the election expenses its agents paid if its candidates won at least 2% of the valid votes nationally, or 5% of the valid votes in the ridings where it ran (s. 444), plus 90% of accessibility expenses up to $250,000.
A candidate who is elected or wins at least 10% of the valid votes in the riding gets back 60% of their paid election expenses (and travel and personal expenses), with 15% of their limit paid up front (ss. 477.73–477.74). Going over the limit cuts the reimbursement.
| Party | National vote | Where it ran | Eligible | Half of reported expenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 43.8% | 43.9% | Yes | $17.1 million |
| Conservative | 41.3% | 41.4% | Yes | $17.7 million |
| Bloc | 6.3% | 27.7% | Yes | $1.3 million |
| NDP | 6.3% | 6.3% | Yes | $12.0 million |
| Green | 1.2% | 1.8% | No | — |
| People's | 0.7% | 0.9% | No | — |
Our calculation, not an Elections Canada figure: reimbursements are not published in the returns database, and they are paid on expenses actually paid by the party's agents.
Third parties · tiers
Everyone else
who campaigns.
Unions, companies, advocacy groups and individuals who spend on partisan or election advertising, activities or surveys are "third parties". They must register once they spend $500, report their contributions and expenses, and stay under their own limits.
| Period | Third-party limit, overall | In any one riding | Canada Elections Act |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-election period (from June 30 of a fixed-date election year to the writ) | $700,000 | $7,000 | s. 349.1 |
| Election period (writ to polling day) | $350,000 | $3,000 | s. 350 |
| Registration threshold, either period | $500 | — | ss. 349.6, 353 |
Base amounts in the Act; the spending limits are multiplied by the inflation adjustment factor in force at the start of the period (s. 384). Registered parties' own partisan advertising before the writ is capped at $1,400,000, also indexed (s. 429.1).
Leadership races
Choosing
a leader.
Leadership contestants register with Elections Canada and report their contributions. The same individual-only rule applies, and each person may give at most $1,775 in 2026 in total to the contestants in a given contest. Two parties chose or confirmed leaders under these rules this Parliament: the NDP elected Avi Lewis on March 29, 2026, and Pierre Poilievre kept the Conservative leadership in a review in January 2026.
Aggregates only
Elections Canada publishes the name, town and postal code of everyone who gives more than $200. This page shows totals by party and year only. It offers no search by donor name or place: a political gift reveals political opinion, and we do not republish personal data.
Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.