Third Party Advertisers
The Municipal Elections Act includes rules for third party advertising. A third party advertisement is any ad that promotes, supports or opposes a candidate in an election. Being registered in a municipality allows the third party advertiser to advertise to the voters in that municipality. A third party advertiser can support or oppose any candidate or candidates who will be voted on by the people in that municipality. This includes candidates running for local council, school trustee and candidates running for offices on an upper tier council.
It is important to note that a third party advertiser can only advertise to voters in the municipality where they are registered. There is no limit on the number of municipalities where a third party advertiser can register. If a third party advertiser wants to advertise to voters in more than one municipality they must register in each municipality where they want to advertise.
2022 Third Party Advertisers’ Guide
Once a third party advertiser is registered, details will be contained in the table below.
| Name | Date Registered | Contact Information |
|---|---|---|
You are eligible to register as a third party advertiser if you are:
- An individual who is normally resident in Ontario;
- A corporation that carries on business in Ontario; and
- A trade union that holds bargaining rights for employees in Ontario.
You are not eligible to register as a third party advertiser if you are:
- A candidate whose nomination has been filed under section 33 of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996;
- A federal political party registered under the Canada Elections Act or any federal constituency association or registered candidate at a federal election endorsed by that party;
- A provincial political party, constituency association, registered candidate or leadership contestant registered under the Election Finances Act; and
- The Crown in right of Canada or Ontario, a municipality or local board.
An individual, corporation or trade union can register to be a third party advertiser beginning on May 2, 2022, and can file a registration until the close of business on Friday, October 21, 2022. Registration must be filed in person or by an agent at the Town Hall, 97 Hurontario Street, Collingwood. Those wishing to register are encouraged to set up a appointment ahead of time to ensure staff availability by contacting Clerk Services at election@collingwood.ca or by calling 705-445-1030.
The municipal clerk must be satisfied that that the individual, corporation or trade union is eligible in order to certify the registration and may require that identification or additional documents be provided. A person who is filing as the representative of a corporation or a trade union should make sure that they can provide proof that they are authorized to act on the corporation or trade union’s behalf.
The clerk must certify your registration in order for you to begin your campaign as a registered third party advertiser. It is important to note that you may not spend money on your campaign, accept contributions or begin advertising until your registration is certified by the Clerk.
There is no registration fee for third party advertisers.
Below is the required registration form to be completed by the thrid party advertiser:
Form 7 - Notice of Registration - Third Party Advertisers
Declaration of Qualifications - Third Party Advertisers
Third party advertisers must identify themselves and provide mandatory information on all advertising beginning May 2 until the close of voting on October 24, 2022. Third party advertisements must contain the following information:
- Name of the registered third party advertiser;
- Municipality where the third party advertiser is registered; and
- Telephone number, mailing address or email address at which the registered third party advertiser may be contacted regarding the advertisement.
A registered third party advertiser can only accept contributions or incur campaign expenses during their advertising campaign period. The advertising campaign begins on the day the clerk certifies the registration of an individual, corporation or trade union to be a third party advertiser. Third party advertisers can register beginning on May 2, 2022 until the close of business on Friday October 21, 2022.
As the advertising is meant to influence voters, there is little point in continuing to advertise after voting day. However, the advertising campaign period runs until January 3, 2023. This extra time can be used to accept contributions if the advertising campaign has not paid for all of its expenses. If a third party advertiser is certain that they will not have any more financial activity after voting day, they can end their advertising campaign at any time between voting day and January 3, 2023.
Bank account
Every third party advertiser must open a bank account exclusively for the advertising campaign. An individual cannot use an existing personal bank account for advertising campaign finances, even if they are planning a very small advertising campaign. A corporation or trade union may not use an existing account.
All contributions – including contributions that the third party advertiser makes to itself – must be deposited into the third party advertising campaign bank account. All expenses must be paid for from the campaign account.
Advertising ampaign financial statement
Every registered third party advertiser must file a complete and accurate financial statement on time. The filing deadline is 2 p.m. on March 31, 2023.
For more details on campaign limits, contributions and financial filing reqwuirements please review the 2022 Third Party Advertisers’ Guide provided by the Ministry of Municpal Affaris and Housing and the Municipal Elections Act.
Ensure you know and understand your responsibilities as a broagcaster or publisher when it comes to third party advertising in the 2022 Municipal and School Board election.
Rules about when you can put up campaign signs and how signs may be displayed on public and private property are provided in the links below. All of your campaign signs and other advertising must identify that you are responsible for the sign. This is so that people seeing the sign or advertisement can tell that it is from your campaign, rather than from a third party advertiser.
You are responsible for ensuring that your campaign signs are removed after voting day. A sign deposit of $100 is required to be paid to the Town of Collingwood before signs can be posted. This depsoit is used to recover costs for signs posted in violation of the by-law required to be removed by the municipality. Any remaining deposit will be refunded to the candidate following the election.