Contribution limits

You can contribute a maximum of each of the following amounts:

* $1,100 to each federal political party. This amount can be given each year per political party. For example, you could give $1,100 to the Liberal Party on December 31, 2008 and another $1,100 to the Liberal Party on January 1, 2009. You can still contribute the maximum amount ($1,100) to the Liberal Party in a year even if you have already made a donation to another political party that year.

and

* $1,100 to the various entities of a political party, such as riding associations, nomination contestants (ie people seeking to be a Liberal candidate in their riding), and candidates (ie people running to be MP). This amount can be given each year per political party but must be divided among the entities of each party. For example, if you give $1,000 to the Liberal candidate in your riding you can only give $100 to the riding association. So, if you gave $500 to Bob Rae’s by-election in 2008 you would be able to give a maximum of $600 to your riding association, but you could still give $1,100 to the Bob’s leadership contest and $1,100 to the Liberal Party in that year.

and

* $1,100 to leadership contestants in a party leadership contest (total per contest). Unlike the above categories (which are yearly maximums), this amount is a total for the entire leadership race.

For example, you could give the following amounts over two years:

The overall contribution limits are higher than the yearly amount eligible for the federal tax credit.

Donations to provincial political parties do not affect the amount you can donate to federal political parties. However, a donation to a provincial division of a federal party is treated as a donation to that federal party.

This page is for informational purposes only. For the complete details see the Elections Canada Webpage and the Canada Elections Act.