Election Information for Candidates

In December 2018, Bill 23 – An Act to Renew Local Government in Alberta was passed and in July 2020, Bill 29 – Local Authorities Election Amendment Act, was passed. Both acts made changes to how municipal elections are conducted in Alberta.

• Municipal Affairs is available to answer questions on the legislative changes and the impacts on campaigns in municipal elections. Please call 780-427-2225.

• For more information on the changes please review the fact sheets from Municipal Affairs.

A contribution is any money, personal property, real property or service that is given to a candidate to support their campaign.

• Only individuals who live in reside in Alberta may contribute to your election campaign and the maximum they can contribution is $5,000 per candidate during the campaign period. There is no limit on the number of candidates an eligible individual can contribute to.
• As a candidate, you may contribute up to $10,000 for your own funds to your election campaign during the campaign period.
• Contributions are not permitted from individuals who do not reside in Alberta or from prohibited organizations, including corporations, trade unions and employee organizations.
• Candidates must not accept anonymous contributions.

• A business would need to ensure that by sharing such information, they are not making a campaign contribution as it is the prospective contributor’s responsibility to ensure that before they make a contribution under Part 5.1 of the Local Authorities Election Act (LAEA) that they are not prohibited from making a contribution.
• A business would also need to review the LAEA Part 8 Third Party Advertising , which regulates third party advertising. A third party advertiser is an individual, corporation or group that promotes or opposed the election of a candidate through election advertising during the election advertising period from May 1, 2021 to end of the election day on October 18, 2021.  A third party is required to register with the Municipality if they intend to incur expenses or accept contributions of at least $1000; however, if a third party plans to advertise in more than 10 jurisdictions, they must register with the Provincial Registrar appointed by Municipal Affairs and not with the Municipality.

• No; electoral candidates may not accept contributions on the promise that the candidate would do anything for the contributor if they gain office.
• Councillors cannot participate in Council meetings where they have a pecuniary interest, and a campaign contribution which was given on the understanding that the candidate would act in the contributor’s favour would qualify as a pecuniary interest.
• Only individuals who ordinarily reside in Alberta may contribute to your election campaign and the maximum they can contribution is $5,000 per candidate during the campaign period. There is no limit on the number of candidates an eligible individual can contribute to.
• Contributions are not permitted from individuals who do not reside in Alberta or from prohibited organizations, including corporations, unincorporated organizations, trade unions and employee organizations.
• Candidates must not accept anonymous contributions.

Receipts issued for contributions of personal property, real property or services, must be for the fair market value of that contribution.

• Issued receipts must include:
  • Name of the candidate or campaign.
  • Date of contribution.
  • Name of the contributor.
  • Address of the contributor.
  • Amount or value of the contribution.

Candidates are permitted to host fundraising functions and the donation portion of the fundraising contributions is subject to contribution limits and disclosure requirements.

Candidates must record the gross income from any fundraising function held on behalf of the candidate.

If the fundraising event is a ticketed event, the candidate has the option of calculating the contribution amount in one of two ways:

• By determining the difference between the cost of the ticket and the value of the goods or services that the attendee is entitled to receive;
• By using the below calculation:

Specific questions on the Local Authorities Election Act, and the interpretation of legislation such as hosting joint fundraising events, should be directed to Alberta Municipal Affairs at 780-427-2225 Toll Free 310-0000 before the phone number. It is the candidate’s responsibility to read and understand all legislation concerning elections and to seek legal and accounting advice from professionals or to contact Municipal Affairs regarding requirements under provincial legislation

• the production and distribution of advertising or promotional material;
• the payment of remuneration and expenses for a person’s services as a chief financial officer or in any other capacity;
• securing a meeting place;
• the conduct of surveys or research during the campaign period; or
• the production of a review engagement required under the LAEA.

Note: A review engagement (review of the financial statements by a chartered accountant) is required to be filed with the candidate’s disclosure statement if more than $50,000 is received or spent.

• A candidate can hire campaign staff and family members can serve in these roles. The payment of remuneration and expenses for a person’s services as a chief financial officer or in any other capacity, such as a campaign manager, is permitted. 
• Candidates may appoint scrutineers to observe the voting process and the role of scrutineer is legislated.  The person appointed must be at least 18 years old and must not have been convicted of an offense under the Local Authorities Election Act, the Elections Act, the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act or the Canada Elections Act within the last 10 years.
• Candidates must give proper direction to any person authorized to accept or solicit campaign contributions or incur expenses and ensure anyone working on their campaign follows all legislation and regulations.

• There are no tools to help estimate how much a typical campaign will cost. The Local Authorities Election Act Part 5.1 requires campaign finance and contribution disclosure for all candidates running for municipal and school board office and governs contributions, expenses, fund-raising, accounting obligations, surpluses, and deficits.  Currently, the legislation does not regulate campaign expense limits.

• All candidates for municipal council and school board trustee are required to file by March 1, 2022 the Campaign Disclosure Statement and Financial Statement (Campaign Disclosure Statement), which records the contributions received and expenses incurred by the candidate during the campaign period must be filed by March 1, 2022. The candidate must retain all campaign financial record for three years after the March 1, 2022 filing deadline.
• Candidates who withdraw their nomination prior to the withdrawal deadline of 12 noon, September 21, 2021 must also file the Campaign Disclosure Statement.
• The Campaign Disclosure Statement and Financial Statement must include:
  • The total contributions
  • The source of contributions
  • Total expenses

And the candidate must disclose:

• The name and address of all individuals who contribute $50.01 or more.
• Any amount received outside the campaign period of January 1 to December 31, 2021. There is a $5,000 limit outside the campaign period.
• An itemized list of expenses.
• A review engagement (review of the financial statements by a chartered accountant) is required to be filed with the candidate’s Campaign Disclosure Statement if more than $50,000 is received or spent.

• If a candidate has a surplus (contributions exceed their expenses during the campaign period), they must act on their surplus within 60 days of filing their Campaign Disclosure Statement.
• If the surplus is less than $1000, the candidate can:
  • Retain the surplus
  • Donate all or a portion of the surplus to a registered charity
• If the surplus is more than $1000, the candidate must:
  • Donate all or a portion to a registered charity
  • If a portion is donated to a registered charity, the remaining surplus that is retained must be less than $1000.
• Candidates who donate all or a portion of their surplus must file an amended Campaign Disclosure Statement that confirms that the surplus has been dealt with in accordance with the above.
• Candidates are only permitted to use monetary campaign contributions for the payment of campaign expenses.  The following election campaign expenses are permitted under the Local Authorities Election Act (LAEA):
  • the production and distribution of advertising or promotional material;
  • the payment of remuneration and expenses for a person’s services as a chief financial officer or in any other capacity;
  • securing a meeting place;
  • the conduct of surveys or research during the campaign period; or
  • the production of a review engagement required under the LAEA.

Note: A review engagement (review of the financial statements by a chartered accountant) is required to be filed with the candidate’s disclosure statement if more than $50,000 is received or spent.

• If a candidate has a deficit (expenses exceed their contributions during the campaign period), they must take action to eliminate their deficit within 60 days of filing their Campaign Disclosure Statement.
• To eliminate their deficit, candidates may receive contributions to do this, including their own self-funded contributions; however, the contribution limits apply to these contributions as well.
• Candidates must file an amended Campaign Disclosure Statement that confirms that the deficit has been eliminated.

• Candidates, who have filed their nomination for Municipal Council or School Board Trustees, can only accept campaign contributions from any individual who is ordinarily a resident of Alberta and the maximum individual contribution is $5,000 per candidate during the campaign period of January 1 to December 31, 2021.  Candidates may contribute up to $10,000 of their own funds to their campaign. By March 1, 2022 all candidates for the October 18, 2021 election are required to file campaign disclosure statements, which includes the contributor’s name if the amount received from that contributor exceeds $50 in total.  All disclosure statements and supporting documents are available for public viewing during regular business hours for a period of 4 years after the election.

• Candidates can only accept campaign contributions from an individual who is ordinarily a resident of Alberta, and the maximum individual contribution is $5,000 per candidate during the campaign period of January 1 to December 31, 2021. Candidates may contribute up to $10,000 of their own funds to their campaign. By March 1, 2022 all candidates for the October 18, 2021 election are required to file campaign disclosure statements, which includes the contributor’s name and address if the amount received from that contributor exceeds $50 in total.  All disclosure statements and supporting documents are available for public viewing during regular business hours for a period of 4 years after the election.

• The provincial Election Commissioner is responsible for conducting any investigations related to election finances and contributions disclosure. Any individual who has concerns with a candidates finances should contact the Election Commissioner’s office by one of the methods outlined at www.elections.ab.ca/investigations.