Canada Elections Act (S.C. 2000, c. 9)

Marginal note:Payment to candidate

477.741 The official agent shall use any amount received under subsection 477.73(2), or received under both that subsection and subsection 477.74(4), to pay to the candidate the amount that is the sum of

• (a) 60% of the candidate’s personal expenses, as set out in their electoral campaign return, other than childcare expenses and expenses referred to in paragraph 378(1)(c) or (d), that were paid other than from the bank account referred to in subsection 477.46(1), and

• (b) 90% of the total of the candidate’s childcare expenses and expenses referred to in paragraphs 378(1)(c) and (d), as set out in their electoral campaign return, that were paid other than from the bank account referred to in subsection 477.46(1).

Marginal note:Audit fee

477.75 On receipt of the documents referred to in subsection 477.59(1), including the auditor’s report, and a copy of the auditor’s invoice for the auditor’s report, the Chief Electoral Officer shall provide the Receiver General with a certificate that sets out the greater of

• (a) the amount of the expenses incurred for the audit, up to a maximum of the lesser of 3% of the candidate’s election expenses and $1,500, and

• (b) $250.

Marginal note:Payment

477.76 On receipt of the certificate, the Receiver General shall pay the amount set out in it to the auditor out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Marginal note:Inflation adjustment factor

477.761 The $1,500 amount set out in paragraph 477.75(a) and the $250 amount set out in paragraph 477.75(b) shall be multiplied by the inflation adjustment factor referred to in section 384 that is in effect on polling day.

477.77 [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 303]

Marginal note:Death of candidate

477.78 If a candidate who was endorsed by a registered party dies within the period beginning at 2:00 p.m. on the fifth day before the closing day for nominations and ending on polling day,

• (a) they are deemed for the purpose of section 477.73 to receive 10% of the valid votes cast in the electoral district in which they were a candidate; and

• (b) in the certificate referred to in subsection 477.73(1) the Chief Electoral Officer shall set out, for the other candidates in that electoral district, the amount that is 22.5% of the election expenses limit calculated under section 477.49.

Marginal note:Withdrawal of writ

477.79 Division 1 of this Part and this Division apply to electoral campaign expenses of candidates in an electoral district in which a writ is withdrawn under subsection 59(1) or deemed to be withdrawn under subsection 31(3) of the Parliament of Canada Act, except that in such a case

• (a) the election is deemed to have been held on the day on which the writ is withdrawn or deemed to be withdrawn; and

• (b) each candidate is deemed to have received 10% of the number of the votes that would have been validly cast at that deemed election.

Surplus of Electoral Funds

Marginal note:Surplus of electoral funds

• 477.8 (1) The surplus amount of electoral funds that a candidate receives for an election is the amount by which the candidate’s electoral revenues referred to in subsection (3) are more than the total of the candidate’s electoral campaign expenses paid from the bank account referred to in subsection 477.46(1) and the transfers referred to in subsection (4).

• Marginal note:Transfer or sale of capital assets

  (2) Before the surplus amount of electoral funds is disposed of in accordance with sections 477.81 and 477.82, a candidate’s official agent shall either transfer any capital assets whose acquisition constitutes an electoral campaign expense within the meaning of subsection 375(1) to the registered party that has endorsed the candidate — or to the registered association of that party in the candidate’s electoral district — or sell them at their fair market value.

• Marginal note:Electoral revenues

  (3) The electoral revenues of a candidate include any amount that represents

  • (a) a monetary contribution made to the candidate;

  • (b) any of the following for which the candidate was reimbursed under this Act:

    • (i) an election expense,

    • (ii) travel and living expenses,

    • (iii) an accessibility expense,

    • (iv) a personal expense paid from the bank account referred to in subsection 477.46(1), and

    • (v) a cost incurred in respect of a request or an application made under Part 14, if the cost was paid from the bank account referred to in subsection 477.46(1);

  • (c) [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 305]

  • (d) the resale value of the capital assets referred to in subsection (2); and

  • (e) any other amount that was received by the candidate for their electoral campaign and that is not repayable.

• Marginal note:Exclusion

  (3.1) Despite subsection (3), for the purposes of this Act, none of the following is electoral revenue:

  • (a) any amount used to pay for a candidate’s litigation expenses that was not deposited into the bank account referred to in subsection 477.46(1);

  • (b) any amount used to pay for a candidate’s personal expenses that was not deposited into the bank account referred to in subsection 477.46(1);

  • (c) any amount paid to the candidate under this Act as a reimbursement of personal expenses that were paid other than from the bank account referred to in subsection 477.46(1); and

  • (d) any amount paid to the candidate under this Act as a reimbursement of a cost incurred in respect of a request or an application made under Part 14, if that cost was paid other than from the bank account referred to in subsection 477.46(1).

• Marginal note:Transfers

  (4) A transfer made by a candidate is a transfer of

  • (a) any funds that the candidate transfers, during the election period, to a registered party or a registered association;

  • (b) any amount of a reimbursement referred to in paragraph (3)(b) that the candidate transfers to that registered party; and

  • (c) any funds transferred by the candidate under paragraph 364(3)(d).

Marginal note:Notice of estimated surplus

• 477.81 (1) If the Chief Electoral Officer estimates that a candidate has a surplus of electoral funds, the Chief Electoral Officer shall issue a notice of the estimated amount of the surplus to the candidate’s official agent.

• Marginal note:Disposal of surplus funds

  (2) The candidate’s official agent shall dispose of a surplus of electoral funds within 60 days after the day on which they receive the notice of estimated surplus.

• Marginal note:Disposal without notice

  (3) If a candidate has a surplus of electoral funds but their official agent has not received a notice of estimated surplus, the official agent shall dispose of the surplus within 60 days after, as the case may be,

  • (a) the day on which they receive the final instalment of the reimbursement of the candidate’s expenses; or

  • (b) the day on which the Chief Electoral Officer is provided with the candidate’s electoral campaign return, if the candidate did not receive the reimbursement mentioned in paragraph (a).

Marginal note:Method of disposal of surplus

477.82 A candidate’s official agent shall dispose of surplus electoral funds by transferring them

• (a) in the case of a candidate who was endorsed by a registered party, to that party or to the registered association of that party in the candidate’s electoral district; or

• (b) in any other case, to the Receiver General.

Marginal note:Notice of disposal of surplus

• 477.83 (1) A candidate’s official agent shall, within seven days after disposing of a candidate’s surplus electoral funds, give the Chief Electoral Officer a notice in the prescribed form of the amount and date of the disposal and to whom the surplus was transferred.

• Marginal note:Publication

  (2) As soon as feasible after the disposal of a candidate’s surplus electoral funds, the Chief Electoral Officer shall publish the notice in any manner that he or she considers appropriate.

Marginal note:Requisition for repayment

• 477.84 (1) An official agent who has disposed of a candidate’s surplus electoral funds under paragraph 477.82(b) and must subsequently pay an electoral campaign expense of the candidate may apply to the Chief Electoral Officer for repayment in an amount that is not more than the lesser of the amount of the subsequent payment and the amount of the surplus electoral funds.

• Marginal note:Repayment

  (2) On receipt of a request for payment from the Chief Electoral Officer in relation to an application, the Receiver General shall pay the amount specified in the application to the official agent out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Marginal note:Persons to whom this section applies

• 477.841 (1) This section applies to any person who was a candidate at an election but who was not endorsed by a registered party and whose official agent disposed of the candidate’s surplus electoral funds under paragraph 477.82(b).

• Marginal note:Application for repayment

  (2) The official agent of a candidate who is a person referred to in subsection (1) may, for the purpose of the candidate’s electoral campaign, apply to the Chief Electoral Officer for repayment of the amount of the surplus electoral funds referred to in that subsection if that candidate

  • (a) is a candidate at the general election next following the election to which the funds relate but is not endorsed by a registered party and was not a candidate at any intervening by-election;

  • (b) is a candidate at one, and only one, intervening by-election and at that by-election is not endorsed by a registered party; or

  • (c) is a candidate at more than one intervening by-election and, at the first intervening by-election at which they are a candidate, is not endorsed by a registered party.

• Marginal note:Payment

  (3) On receipt of a request for payment from the Chief Electoral Officer in relation to an application, the Receiver General shall pay the amount specified in the application to the candidate’s official agent out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Marginal note:Prohibition — transfer of contributions

477.85 No registered agent of a registered party, no financial agent of a registered association and no financial agent of a nomination contestant shall transfer funds to a candidate after polling day except to pay claims related to the candidate’s electoral campaign.