Filing Guidelines for Third Parties
When you register a third party in Ontario you must follow rules according to the Election Finances Act. The Election Finances Act is currently being updated by the Government of Ontario with the recent changes enacted by Bill 254, Protecting Ontario Elections Act, 2021.
Below is a summary of some of the most important filing requirements. For a full list of rules and complete details, please see the CFO Handbook for Third Parties.
When you fill out forms please be sure that:
- All information is accurate and complete (inaccurate information will cause delays and may be a contravention of the Election Finances Act)
- Information is typed or printed clearly on the form
- You check each form carefully for information about where to submit it
Guidelines for chief financial officers
Third parties must appoint a chief financial officer (CFO) before registering with Elections Ontario. A CFO has many legal responsibilities, including to record, report and retain financial information.
For guidelines about a CFO’s roles and responsibilities, please see our CFO Handbook for Third Parties.
Filing requirements
Your Chief Financial Officer (CFO) must file TPAR-Interim: Third Party Political Advertising Interim Reports promptly after spending or committing to spend any funds on political advertising, with a separate report being required each time its aggregate spending increases by an amount of at least $1,000 and when it has reached the applicable spending limit.
Your Chief Financial Officer (CFO) must also file the TPAR-Final: Third Party Political Advertising Final Report and supporting documentation within six months of Election Day.
For full details of what is included in TPAR-Interim and TPAR-Final reports, see the CFO Handbook for Third Parties.
Viewing disclosure of contributions
Use our Political Financing and Party Information application to find information on contributions made to registered entities that exceed $100.00 for elections prior to April 2021. For elections after that date, only contributions exceeding $200.00 from a single source are required to be published. Our tool allows you to search by:
- party
- candidate
- nomination or leadership contestant
- constituency association
- third party
- contribution report
- financial statements
Find TPAR-Interim Reports filed with Elections Ontario, and the percentage of the maximum permitted spending that has been spent or committed to be spent by each third party.