Donate to a federal political party
- Liberal Party of Canada (LPC)
- Conservative Party of Canada (CPC)
- Bloc Québécois (BQ)
- New Democratic Party (NDP)
- Green Party of Canada (GPC)
Only Canadian citizens or permanent residents may donate to candidates and their parties
Only Canadian citizens or permanent residents may make political contributions to:
- Candidates
- Political parties
- Constituency associations
- Leadership and nomination contestants
Individuals and corporations can donate unlimited funds to third parties
There are no contribution limit to third parties and donations are not eligible for tax receipts.
You can register as a third party for an election if you are:
- Individual Canadian citizen, permanent resident or who lives in Canada
- Corporation carrying on business in and incorporated in Canada
- Corporation carrying on business in Canada but incorporated outside Canada, as long as your primary purpose in Canada is not to influence electors to vote or refrain from voting, either in general or for a particular registered political party or candidate
- Group, if a person responsible for the group is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident or lives in Canada, including
- Municipal government
- Provincial or municipal political party
Political contributions to third parties are made available to the public in an online database. Anonymous contributions are not allowed.
Examples of third party advertisers in federal elections
Examples of federal third party advertisers (search federal advertisers) include:
- UNIFOR, Canada’s largest private sector union
- Fair Vote Canada
- Canadian Medical Association
- Grain Farmers of Ontario
- Canada Proud
- Canadian Union of Public Employees
- National Police Federation
- Canadian Chamber of Commerce
- Canadian Real Estate Association
- Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers
- Federation of Canadian Municipalities
- Canadian Teacher’s Federation
- Ontario Chamber of Commerce
- Basic Income Canada Network
- Restaurants Canada
Tax credit
For every dollar you donate, you will receive up to $0.75 back in non-refundable tax credits. If the donation is between:
- $0 and $400 – 75% back in tax credits
- $400 and $750 – $300 plus 50% of any amount over $400
- Over $750 – $475 plus 33.33% per cent of any amount over $750 up to a maximum of $650 per year
| Donation | Tax Credit | Net Cost |
|---|---|---|
| $50 | $37.50 | $12.50 |
| $100 | $75.00 | $25.00 |
| $250 | $187.50 | $62.50 |
| $500 | $350.00 | $150.00 |
| $1,275 | $650.00 | $625.00 |
| $1,500 | $650.00 | $850.00 |
| $1,725 | $650.00 | $1,075.00 |
Donating privately
Donations totaling less than $200 to a registered federal political party or candidate in a calendar year can be done privately, so you do not have to worry about family/friends/employers finding out. Your name must be recorded, but it is not reported to Elections Canada.
Donations totaling over $200 are made available to the public in the Elections Canada – Contributions database including the contributor’s name, city, province, postal code and contribution amounts.
- $1 to $20 – Cash contributions can be anonymous, but cannot exceed $20. The total amount collected, and number of contributors must be reported.
- $20 to $200 – Contribution receipt must be issued and the contributor’s first and name must be recorded, and home address must be provided to receive a tax receipt, but details are not reported to Elections Canada.
- Over $200 – Contribution receipt must be issued, and name and address must be recorded and submitted to Elections Canada.
Taking donations to provincial political parties into account as well, you can donate another $200 privately and get 75% back in refundable tax credits, meaning for $100 out-of-pocket, you can privately get $400 worth of sway in elections at two levels of government.
Donation limits
In 2024, the maximum donation allowed by Elections Canada per donor, per year is:
- $1,725 to each registered political party
- $1,725 to the combined entities of each registered political party (Electoral District Associations, Nomination Contestants and Candidate campaigns)
- $1,725 in total between all registered leadership contestants in a particular leadership contest.
The limits increase by $25 on January 1 every year.
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