Donate to a municipal election candidate in Ontario

Only individuals who reside in Ontario may donate

Only individuals who are normally resident in Ontario and the candidate and their spouse may make contributions to a candidate’s election campaign.

Tax credit

Unlike contributions to provincial and federal candidates, contributions to candidates running for municipal council or school board are generally not tax deductible.

However, some municipalities have contribution rebate programs that will refund you part of your contribution to a candidate’s campaign. However, municipal contribution rebate programs do not apply to contributions to third party advertisers.

Municipalities have the option to create a contribution rebate program that reimburses a portion of the money an individual donates to candidates’ election campaigns. It can act as a stand-in for the tax credits that municipal contributions are lacking when compared to contributions to federal and provincial election campaigns.

A municipality may, by by-law, provide for the payment of rebates to individuals who made contributions to candidates for office on the municipal council.

Section 88.11 of the Municipal Elections Act

Who is not allowed to donate to a municipal candidate’s campaign?

The following entities may not contribute to a candidate’s campaign:

• Corporations
• Trade unions
• Registered charities
• Federal political parties, associations or candidates
• Provincial political parties, associations or candidates
• Associations including neighbourhood, clubs, professional, fire, or police
• Federal or provincial government, a municipality or a school board
• Any source outside Ontario (except for the candidate and their spouse)

Members of these entities may contribute individually.

What is the contribution limit?

An individual may make a maximum contribution of:

• $1,200 to any one candidate in an election, and
• $5,000 to all candidates in the same jurisdiction

including the value of any goods and/or services donated to the campaign, which are based on the lowest amount charged by a business providing similar goods or services, or charged by the donor to the general public at the time. It also includes the cost of fundraiser tickets purchased.

The contribution must be made:

• During election campaign period
• By cheque or money order or other method that tracks where the funds came from if it is greater than $25. Contributions of $25 and below can be made in cash.
• Directly from the contributor (it can’t be pooled from multiple contributors)

The candidate and their spouse may contribute to the candidate’s campaign a maximum of:

• Head of Council (Mayor) candidates: $7500.00 + $0.20 per elector to a maximum of $25,000
• Council: $5000.00 + $0.20 per elector to a maximum of $25,000