As a candidate, you should review all relevant legislation, by-laws and policies to manage your campaign successfully.
Campaign contributions are any money, goods or services that are given to you for use in your campaign, including money and goods that you contribute to yourself.
You can only accept contributions from individuals who are normally a resident in Ontario. Corporations and trade unions are not permitted to make contributions to candidates.
You can only accept contributions during your campaign period, which begins on the day you file your nomination paper and ends December 31, 2026.
The individual contribution limit is $2,500 for mayor and $1,200 for councillor and school board trustee candidates.
The maximum total amount that a contributor can give to candidates in the same jurisdiction (such as running for the same council or the same school board) is $5,000.
There is a limit on the total amount that you and your spouse may collectively contribute to your own campaign. This “self-contribution limit” is calculated based on the number of electors who are eligible to vote for your office.
The formula to calculate the limit is:
You will be provided a certificate that will tell you what your self-contribution limit is. This self-contribution limit does not apply to school board trustee candidates.
The general spending limit for your campaign is calculated based on the number of voters who are eligible to vote for your office.
The formula to calculate the limit is:
You will be provided a certificate that will tell you what your general spending limit is.
The spending limit for expenses related to holding parties and other expressions of appreciation after the close of voting is calculated as 10% of the amount of your general spending limit.
You will be provided with your spending limit for parties and expressions of appreciation.
The primary purpose of fundraising activities is to raise money for your campaign. The cost of holding these fundraising activities is not subject to the spending limit if the primary purpose of the activity is raising money and not promoting yourself as a candidate.
If you hold a function to promote yourself and receive incidental contributions, this may not be considered a fundraising activity.
Campaign expenses are the costs that you incur during your campaign. You can incur expenses only during your campaign period, except for expenses related to the preparation of an auditor’s report.
If you are required to include an auditor’s report with your financial statement, you may incur these expenses after the campaign period has ended. These expenses must also be reported on your financial statement.
If your payment processor charges you processing fees on contributions received, these count as campaign expenses and should not be deducted from a contributor’s contribution. For example, if someone contributes $100 to your campaign but you only receive $98 because of $2 in processing fees, that person should be recorded as having contributed $100 to your campaign and the $2 in processing fees should be recorded as a campaign expense.
You and your contributors should also be aware of prompts by some donation platforms that suggest to contributors that they increase their contribution amount to compensate for processing fees charged to a candidate. If a contributor agrees to these prompts, both you and the contributor should ensure that the newly increased contribution does not now exceed any contribution limits.
Your campaign begins on the day you filed your nomination and ends on December 31, 2026. If you withdrew your nomination, your campaign ends on the date you filed your Notice of Withdrawal of Nomination.
If your campaign has a deficit, you can extend your campaign period to do some additional fundraising. To extend your campaign, you must file a Notice of Extension of Campaign Period – Form 6 with the City Clerk on or before December 31, 2026. Your campaign will be extended until Wednesday, June 30, 2027.
Candidates who extend their campaign will be required to file two financial statements:
City Council has authorized a Contribution Rebate Program for individuals who contribute money to Mayor and/or Councillor candidates. The amount of money that a contributor is eligible to receive is based on the total amount of money they contributed to all candidates participating in the program.
The Contribution Rebate Guide for Contributors provides an overview of the rebate program and how payments are calculated.
In order to participate in the Contribution Rebate Program, you must file an audited financial statement by the financial filing deadline (2 p.m. on March 30, 2027).
You must also:
Payment of contribution rebates to contributors is dependent on proceedings relating to over-contribution reporting and compliance audits.
Candidates must:
Candidates should encourage their contributors to complete the Rebate Application by the deadline (December 30, 2027 at 4:30 p.m.).
Contributors should:
The Clerk must successfully receive contribution rebate claims either online or via mail by 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 30, 2027.
Rebates are payable to the contributor once all of the following requirements are met:
The earliest date that any contributor will receive their rebate is early 2028.
Total Contributions of $25 or less are not eligible for a rebate.
Total contributions between $25.01 and $300
Total contributions over $300 but not more than $1,000
Total contributions over $1000
The maximum rebate payable is $1000
The City Clerk determines what locations will be used as voting places. On voting days, canvassing of any nature is not permitted in or on these premises, including the entire building and the property on which it is located.
While a voter is in a voting place, no one shall attempt, directly or indirectly, to influence how the voter votes or shall display a candidate’s campaign material or literature.
Candidates may campaign in subway stations, but outside the fare-paid areas. They may also campaign outside TTC station entrances and at bus and streetcar stops. Candidates can also hold news conferences outside TTC stations provided access and safety of TTC customers and TTC vehicles is maintained.
Candidates may not campaign on TTC vehicles, on subway platforms or any area where a fare is required. Candidates are also not allowed to erect signs unless through paid advertising.
Refer to the T.T.C. By-Law No. 1, ss3.16 and the Use of TTC Resources during an Election policy for relevant information.
If candidates have questions regarding the TTC policy, they should contact the Toronto Transit Commission directly.
Candidates and their representatives are allowed access to apartments, condominiums, non-profit housing cooperatives and gated communities for the purpose of canvassing and distributing election material.
The Municipal Elections Act outlines the following rules around campaigning in these locations:
The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (s.28), Condominium Act, 1998 (s.118) and the Co-operative Corporations Act, 1996 (s.171.24) provides candidates and their representatives access to the building for the purpose of canvassing.
The letter to landlords and property managers provides the above mentioned legislative sections. Candidate may use this letter when they are canvassing.
Candidates are prohibited from using the City of Toronto’s logo, graphics or any other item of City intellectual property for any campaign-related purposes. This includes, but is not limited to, signs, printed and electronic publications, flyers, brochures, e-mail, website, business cards, postcards, letterheads, leaflets, posters, fridge magnets and promotional items.
The Use of City Resources during an Election Period policy provides direction on how City resources can and cannot be used during municipal, school board, provincial and federal election campaigns or campaigns on a question on a ballot. The policy states that:
This policy does not apply to library facilities. Candidates should contact the Toronto Public Library directly for booking prices and availability.
The first day you may display election signs for your campaign is October 1, 2026.
Election signs advertise or promote candidates in federal, provincial, or municipal elections (including elections for local board or commissions). This includes signs, balloons, blimps, vehicle wraps, mobile signs on vehicles or trailers and bumper stickers intended to influence a person to vote for or against any candidate.
Election signs in Toronto must comply with the Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 693, Article II – Election Signs. The bylaw provides rules for election signs on private and public properties, outlines when election signs can be displayed and when they must be removed, and provides rules for campaign office signs.
MyCampaign is a secure web portal for candidates that provides information and other tools relating to their campaign.
MyCampaign allows candidates to:
EFFS is a free online application available to all candidates that allows them to:
After the financial filing deadline, the financial statement and list of contributors who contributed over $100 will be posted on the City’s website. Candidates and registered third party advertisers should notify their contributors that their name, address, amount of contribution and who they contributed to will appear on the website. All financial information is available online.
Candidates who plan to participate in the City’s contribution rebate program must use EFFS to generate Rebate Receipt and Application forms to provide to their contributors.
If candidates or their designates are experiencing technical difficulties they can call 416-395-0025 during regular business hours (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) or email candidateinfo@toronto.ca.
All certified candidates are provided with access to a voters’ list beginning in September 2026. Specific dates will be provided once they are finalized.
The Municipal Elections Act, 1996 has changed regarding voters’ list, and candidates will now be required to submit a Voters’ List Request form acknowledging their responsibilities for using the list and for destroying it at the end of the campaign period.
Certified candidates who have submitted the Voters’ List Request form will be given access to the voters’ list through a secure web portal called CandidateAccess.
Through this portal, candidates can access:
It is the responsibility of the candidate to protect any personal information collected for the purpose of filing election forms (for example, Financial Statement, Endorsement of Nomination Form and/or Contribution Rebate Application), until such time the forms are filed with the City Clerk.
Once filed, documents and materials submitted to the City Clerk are subject to access and privacy provisions under the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 and other applicable legislation.
The ballot lists the candidates running for mayor, councillor and school board trustee. The Municipal Elections Act, 1996 and City Clerk determine how a candidate’s name appears on the ballot.
The following rules apply:
A sample ballot will be provided to all certified candidates through MyCampaign.
Candidates may appoint a scrutineer by completing the Notice of Scrutineer Appointment form. Once completed, the scrutineer must present it to the voting place staff.
If the candidate enters the voting place, they are considered to be a scrutineer and must present identification to the election official. If the candidate has the maximum number of scrutineers in a voting place, one scrutineer must leave in order for the candidate to enter the location.
In order to protect the secrecy of the vote, scrutineers are not allowed to view the ballots as they are being fed into the vote tabulator when a voter is casting their ballot.
Candidates will have access to the number of scrutineers allowed in each voting place through MyCampaign.
Any candidate who has been acclaimed is prohibited from being in the voting place unless another candidate has appointed them as a scrutineer.
Candidates and scrutineers have a number of rights, including the following:
Candidates and scrutineers are prohibited from the following:
The role of candidates and scrutineers in the voting place is to observe the integrity of the process, not to assist voters. Candidates and scrutineers cannot:
Election officials have the right to remove from the voting place any individual who is causing a disturbance. Candidates and scrutineers forfeit their right to be present if they disrupt the voting place or interfere with the voting process.
After 8 p.m., on election night, the unofficial election results are aggregated using three different methods:
Each vote tabulator that is used to count ballots is equipped with a wireless modem. Once the voting place has closed and the vote tabulator is switched to “close polls”, the results are transmitted to the election results server.
Election officials also phone in the election results to a designated call centre. These results are entered into a database and stored in the election results server.
Once results have been sent by wireless modem, the election official is responsible for packing up the voting place and removing the memory card from the vote tabulator. The memory card is then transported to a receiving center where it will be read and uploaded to the election results server.
Advance Vote results are transmitted after 8 p.m., on election night from the Toronto Elections Office at 89 Northline Road. Candidates or their scrutineers can be present for these results.
Election night results are considered unofficial results. The City Clerk will provide the official results after election day.
Candidates can obtain election night results by: