Well-funded Conservatives paid $8.5M on advertising in 2023, trouncing other parties

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre points to a campaign sign during a news conference in Vancouver on October 13, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

OTTAWA — The well-funded Conservative Party of Canada spent more than $8.5 million on advertising last year, substantially exceeding what its political rivals dropped to get their message out.

The Liberals spent just a fraction of that at around $381,000, while the NDP spent only about $42,000.

The numbers are detailed in federal parties’ annual financial returns for 2023, which Elections Canada posted online this week.

The Conservative statement shows the party held $16 million in cash at the end of 2023, an increase of more than $3.2 million from the start of the year.

The Liberal Party of Canada was sitting on nearly $2.8 million in cash by the end of December, a decrease of about $530,000 from what they started with in January.

The NDP did not report any cash holdings for 2023 as it was still paying off a loan from the 2021 election campaign, but the party said earlier this year it is now in the black.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2024.

The Canadian Press