IMPORTANT: Your nomination under the Election Act and your registration under the Election Finances Act are two different and distinct requirements.
Your Registration
Under the Election Finances Act, you must NOT accept any campaign contributions or incur any expenses until:
- You have filed your Form C-1 with the Election Finances division to register as a candidate. Registration forms are available online or from the Election Finances division. Please fax, mail or scan and e-mail completed forms to the Election Finances division (not the returning office). They must be received in our office in Toronto no later than Day 1. Pre-filing entitles party candidates to receive certain products from Elections Ontario before the writ is issued. Neither party candidates nor independents will be entitled to receive the List of Electors until after the writ is issued.
AND
- Party candidates may pre-file the form C-1 before the writ is issued to be able to begin financial activity immediately on this date.
The Election Finances Act also regulates political advertising, spending limits, contribution limits and financial reporting. Your chief financial officer should be familiar with the reporting requirements and deadlines that will be provided by the Election Finances division. Questions about election expenses, contributions, receipts, campaign advertising, etc., will not be answered by the Returning Officer and should be directed to Election Finances.
Your Nomination
Your nomination paper must be filed between Day 21, and the close of nominations at 2 p.m. on Day 14. To be included on the ballot and Notice to Voters for the electoral district, you must complete your nomination paper and you (or your designate) must submit it in person to the Returning Office by 2 p.m. on Day 14. Your nomination form is available from the returning office and the Elections Ontario website once the writ is issued.
To qualify as a candidate, you must be, at the time of signing your consent to nomination:
- 18 years of age, or older, and
- a Canadian citizen, and
- resident in Ontario for the six months preceding Election Day, and
- not disqualified by the Legislative Assembly Act or any other Act.
IMPORTANT: For the official name of a registered political party to be shown with your name on the ballot, the leader of that party must file a statement with the Chief Electoral Officer by close of nominations ([Day 14]) endorsing you as that party’s registered candidate.
If you are a candidate who is not endorsed by a registered political party, you may request that “Independent/Indépendant” be shown with your name on the ballot.
If received before 11 a.m. on Day 14, and providing the Returning Officer is satisfied that it meets the requirements of the Election Act, your paper will be certified by the Returning Officer. Papers received between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Day 14 will be accepted but will not be certified.
We recognize your busy campaign schedule and strongly recommend you make an appointment in advance to meet with the Returning Officer to submit your nomination paper. Also, by submitting your nomination paper early, you will give yourself time to address any errors or omissions that may be identified by the Returning Officer.
IMPORTANT: Be sure to include your name on the nomination paper exactly as you wish it to appear on the ballot.
You may authorize more than one person to act as your designate in appointing scrutineers. You should identify these designates on your nomination paper.
At the candidate’s request, any nickname or an abbreviation or familiar form of a given name may be used instead of his or her legal given name or names. Initials are not permitted even if it is being substituted for a legal name.
Examples that would be permissible are:
-
William Edward JONES
-
Bill JONES
-
Ted JONES
-
Bill Edward JONES
Examples that would not be permitted:
-
William E. JONES
-
W. Edward JONES
-
W.E. JONES
IMPORTANT: If two candidates have names that are identical or so nearly identical as to create confusion on the ballot, the Chief Electoral Officer will consult with the candidates affected and decide how the names are to appear on the ballot before 2 p.m. on the day after nominations close, Day 13.
Sample Nomination Paper (F0400)
Advertising
The Election Finances division will give you detailed information on political advertising requirements and restrictions under the Election Finances Act. The two general requirements to remember are:
- All advertising (anything that can be seen, heard or read) must bear authorization, such as “authorized by the XYZ campaign”, and
- Campaign advertising may occur ONLY during the period from Day 22 12:00 a.m. to
Day 2, 11:59 p.m.
List of Electors
The information on the List of Electors contains private information and is provided for electoral purposes only. You will be required to sign a written acknowledgement of this. Similarly, before you provide a copy of the List of Electors to your representatives, you must obtain their written acknowledgement that it will be used for electoral purposes only (F0101).
Elections Ontario will calculate your actual campaign expense limits based on the number of names on the final List of Electors after Election Day, available approximately four weeks after Election Day. This count is also used by Elections Ontario’s Election Finances division to calculate candidate campaign expense subsidies after the event.
IMPORTANT: In budgeting your campaign expenses beforehand, remember your limit is based on the final List of Electors and NOT the preliminary List of Electors.
The following products are available to parties and candidates from your Returning Officer:
- Preliminary List of Electors
Available to candidates on registration or nomination (no ealier than Day 26)
- Electoral District Detail Map (wall map), Map Book and Street Index Guide
Available to candidates on registration or nomination (no ealier than Day 26)
- Advance Poll List of Electors
Includes updates gathered through Target Revision
Available by Day 13
- Advance Poll Strike-offs
Copy of the Advance Poll Record of Voters (F0517)
Available upon request
- List of Electors for Polling Day
Available by Day 4
NOTE: Refer to the policy Publication and Access to the List of Electors for more information
Canvassers
Neither the Chief Electoral Officer nor your Returning Officer has authority to compel landlords or property managers to let you into private residential buildings to do political canvassing. If you are denied entry into such places, you may wish to consult a lawyer to determine whether or not you have any recourse under the provisions concerning canvassers in the following acts: the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (s.28), the Condominium Act, 1998 (s. 118), and the Co-operative Corporations Act (s. 171.24).
Scrutineers
A scrutineer is a person representing a candidate at the polling place to observe the voting and the counting of the ballots.
Please ensure that you and your representatives are familiar with the terms and conditions outlined in the Guide for Scrutineers (F0411), and that anyone acting on your behalf as a scrutineer has read and reviewed it in advance of entering a polling place.
The scrutineer’s appointment form does not require an original signature from you or your designate.
NOTE: Anyone 16 years of age or older may be a scrutineer. However, scrutineers may only direct a challenge to the deputy returning officer on the eligibility of an elector at the poll if they are themselves qualified electors.
NOTE: Scrutineers are not permitted at the Returning Office Advance Polls.
NOTE: Scrutineers are not permitted to sit at the revision desk.