Political fundraising dries up following spring election surge, data shows

OTTAWA — Fresh political fundraising data shows partisan donors closed their wallets over the summer months after shelling out to fill party war chests for the spring election.

The new figures published this week by Elections Canada come just in time for fall election speculation to heat up in Ottawa as the Liberal government does not currently have the support it needs to pass the upcoming federal budget.

Quarterly party financial returns for the three-month period between July and September show Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives raised $4.2 million, maintaining their fundraising edge over the Liberals which raised $2.9 million.

However the Conservative haul sunk to half of what they raised in the same quarter last year and plummeted from the $28 million raised in the first three months of this year, which included the start of the federal election campaign.

The Liberal donations were also down from the $3.3 million raised in the third quarter of 2024, but that comes after raising $13 million during the first quarter period which included the party’s leadership race, and then $7.6 million in the second quarter.

Both parties saw a surge of donors before the election that petered out over the ensuing months.

The Conservatives had 148,676 donations in the first quarter, which dropped to 53,725 in the third quarter, whereas the Liberals’ 156,489 contributors in Q1 has now fallen to 77,064. Both registered more donations this past quarter from the year prior.

The Bloc Québécois only managed about $100,000 from just under a thousand donors in the third quarter, a drop from $356,000 in the same period of 2024.

The NDP took in $878,604, down from $1.2 million year on year, but its number of donors doubled to 30,677. The NDP also started a leadership race at the beginning of September.

Elections Canada has yet to publish figures for the Greens and the People’s Party for the quarter.

That dwindling cash flow comes as politicos in the nation’s capital are on edge over whether the coming vote on the fall budget will cause the government to fall, since the Liberals are currently running just a few votes shy of being able to pass it on their own.

They will either need to scrounge up at least two more votes in the House of Commons, or several opposition MPs will have to abstain from voting.

Government House leader Steven MacKinnon has called the situation a staredown, and warned opposition parties a vote against the budget will lead to an election over the Christmas holiday period.

In question period Friday, Bloc MP Alexis Deschênes charged that the Liberals are trying to scare Canadians on Halloween with the spectre of an early election, and accused the party of refusing to negotiate.

“They’re threatening to call an election if the budget isn’t passed as is. But they’re in a minority. All they have to do to get their budget passed is make a deal with the Bloc, the Conservatives, the NDP — anyone,” Deschênes said in French.

MacKinnon maintains opposition parties are making unrealistic demands, and shot back that the Bloc’s 22 MPs have demanded tens of billions in additional spending that “taxpayers would have to foot the bill for.”

“We are working with all the opposition parties,” MacKinnon then insisted. “Yes, we obviously want this budget to pass and avoid a Christmas election.”

Carney’s first budget is set to be presented on Tuesday, but based on the political calendar, a vote isn’t likely to come for at least two weeks.

The Conservatives have meantime solicited funds off of the situation over the past few weeks.

An email to party supporters Friday warned the nation’s capital is “buzzing” with talk of the government falling, and the party will need to fill its coffers if it’s about to suddenly enter a race.

“If Mark Carney’s costly Liberal budget doesn’t pass, the government will collapse, sending Canadians right back to the polls,” wrote Daniel Taller, Conservative Party digital operations director. “We don’t know if a costly Liberal election is going to be called, but I can guarantee, we will be ready.”

Liberal fundraising has so far not mentioned the prospect of an election, but has touted the coming budget as a bold effort to “build a stronger economy.”

Also on Friday, Elections Canada said it deregistered the Marijuana Party for failing to provide at least 250 declarations of party membership, something the law sets out must happen every three years. This comes seven years after the federal government legalized recreational cannabis.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2025.

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press