With a federal election expected as early as this spring – and required by October 20, 2025 – Canadian charities must prepare for how elections may impact their operations. Elections provide a critical opportunity for charities to engage in public discourse on issues aligned with their missions. However, engaging in advocacy before and during an election period comes with essential legal considerations.

Charities must keep in mind rules under the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the “ITA”) that require any advocacy activities carried on by a charity to be non-partisan and to be carried out in furtherance of a charitable purpose(s). Furthermore, there are “third party” registration and foreign funding rules under the Canada Elections Act (the “CEA”), which may apply. Charities should understand these laws to ensure they comply with all applicable rules before and during election time.

Advocacy activities under the ITA

To maintain charitable status, a charity must be constituted and operated exclusively for charitable purposes, dedicating all its resources to charitable activities. Importantly, these activities can include advocacy efforts – referred to under the ITA as public policy dialogue and development activities – provided they further a charitable purpose of the charity and the charity remains non-partisan. In other words, a charity can advocate for positions that further its charitable purpose(s) (as stated in the charity’s governing documents), provided the charity does not directly or indirectly support or oppose a political party or candidate for public office.

Examples of permitted activities:

  • Informing the public about various issues under debate related to the charity’s cause (e.g., an environmental charity could compare political parties’ stances on climate change policy).
  • Hosting educational forums or publishing non-partisan research that contributes to public understanding of relevant policy issues.

Examples of prohibited activities:

  • Endorsing or opposing a political party or candidate, either explicitly or implicitly (e.g., an environmental charity endorsing a political party based on its climate change policy).
  • Organizing campaigns that favour one political outcome over another.

Canada Elections Act: Registration requirement for “third parties”

Charities play an essential role in shaping public discourse during federal elections. However, when advocacy activities intersect with electoral issues, certain transparency requirements under the CEA may come into play. Particularly, charities should be aware of the “third party” rules under the CEA, and the potential requirement to register as a “third party” with Elections Canada. These “third party” rules are described below.

Who is considered a third party?

The CEA governs the conduct of political parties, candidates, and “third parties” – any individual or organization other than a political party, candidate, nomination contestant or electoral district association – that seeks to influence elections. Charities engaging in advocacy on debated issues during an election period may fall into this category.

When is registration required?

Registration as a third party is required if total expenses for “regulated activities” reach $500 or more during the pre-election or election period.

What are “regulated activities”?

This then raises the question: What are “regulated activities” under the CEA?

According to Elections Canada, regulated activities are:

  • Partisan activities: Promoting or opposing political parties, nomination contestants, potential candidates, candidates, or party leaders, other than by taking a position on an issue the political party or person is connected to (subject to some exclusions).
  • Election surveys: Conducted to determine voting intentions or choices, or opinions on issues connected to registered parties or candidates.
  • Partisan advertising: Advertising messages that promote or oppose political parties, nomination contestants, potential candidates, or party leaders, by any means during the pre-election period, other than by taking a position on an issue to which the party or person is connected.
  • Election advertising: Advertising messages that promote or oppose registered parties or candidates, by any means during the election period.

Remember – when engaging in advocacy activities, charities must carefully navigate the line between non-partisan advocacy and partisan activities. While some forms of election-related communications are permitted, charities need to understand the legal boundaries to avoid unintentionally breaching the ITA. To clarify, a charity is not permitted to carry out “partisan activities” or “partisan advertising.” However, a charity may be able to carry out “election surveys” and/or “election advertising” that takes a position on an issue a political party or candidate is connected to, to the extent that the charity does not directly or indirectly support or oppose a political party or candidate in doing so.

Foreign funding

The CEA prohibits foreign third parties from participating in elections or funding regulated activities during pre-election or election periods. This prohibition extends to foreign funders providing funding to Canadian entities for use in such regulated activities. 

Accordingly, a charity which is involved with any foreign individual or entity, and which may want to participate in or influence the election, should be cautious of this prohibition to ensure it does not act offside this rule.

How to register as a third party

To register, a charity that is a third party must:

If a charity conducts regulated activities with combined expenses of $10,000 or more in total, then the charity must also submit an auditor’s report.

If the charity is accepting contributions or loans for the regulated activities, then the charity must report certain information regarding such contributions or loans (such as, the name and address of each contributor or lender, as the case may be) in its Third Party’s Electoral Campaign Return (EC 20228). As a reminder, none of the contributions or loans should come from foreign funders.

There is nothing wrong with having to register as a third party, even during an election period; these rules are merely meant to increase transparency. Further, registering should not result in any concerns under the ITA provided the charity is pursuing regulated activities that further its charitable purposes and the regulated activities are non-partisan.

What information becomes public upon registration?

Upon registering as a third party, the information provided by the third party in its Application to Register a Third Party (EC 20430) will be included in Elections Canada’s Registry of Third Parties. Some of the registry information (names and partial addresses) is published in the Third Party Database on Elections Canada’s website. This registry is intended to track the spending by third parties on activities that may be considered to influence public decision making during the election period. Again, these activities are not prohibited or frowned upon, the policy is simply that the public should know who is spending on these activities and the extent of that spending.

Have questions about this article? A member of Miller Thomson’s Social Impact Team can help. We also recommend consulting Elections Canada’s “Tools for Third Parties” manual for more information on the third party rules under the Canada Elections Act.