Canada Elections Act

Marginal note:Limitation on expenses

• 358 (1) A third party shall use only contributions from Canadian individuals to pay for regulated expenses and shall use, as regulated expenses, only property or services that are contributions from Canadian individuals.

• Marginal note:Own funds

  (2) However, if the total amount of contributions received, from all sources and for any purpose, by the third party during the previous year is equal to or less than 10% of its revenue for that year, the third party may use its own funds, namely funds that are not contributions made to it, to pay for regulated expenses and may use, as regulated expenses, property or services that it has provided. In that case, the third party shall include a statement, prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, of its revenues and expenses for that year in the third-party expenses return referred to in section 359.

• Marginal note:Excluded amounts

  (3) For the purposes of subsection (2), grants and contributions received from the Government of Canada or of a province or from a municipality are not included in determining the third party’s revenue for the previous year.

• Marginal note:Previous year — choice of third party

  (4) For the purposes of subsections (2) and (3), the third party may choose as their previous year either

  • (a) the calendar year that precedes the calendar year in which an election period occurs, or

  • (b) the fiscal year that precedes the fiscal year in which an election period occurs.

• Marginal note:Non-application

  (5) This section does not apply in respect of a third party who is an individual or a third party that is not required to register under subsection 353(1).

• Marginal note:Definitions

  (6) The following definitions apply in this section.

  Canadian individual

  Canadian individual means an individual who is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. (particulier canadien)

  regulated expenses

  regulated expenses means any of the following expenses:

  • (a) partisan activity expenses in relation to partisan activities that are carried out during an election period;

  • (b) election advertising expenses in relation to election advertising messages that are transmitted during that period; and

  • (c) election survey expenses in relation to election surveys that are conducted during that period. (dépenses réglementées)