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Election Finances and Campaign Contributions
All candidates, and anyone acting on their behalf, are responsible for ensuring that their campaign contributions and expenses are conducted in accordance with the Local Authorities Election Act.
Contributors are responsible for ensuring that they are eligible to provide campaign contributions and that they do not exceed the allowable contribution limits set out in the Local Authorities Election Act. Additionally, candidates are responsible for advising contributors of the requirements of the Act.
Candidates are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with the requirements of Part 5.1 of the Local Authorities Election Act and the Expense Limits Regulation, to ensure compliance with campaign finance requirements. Failure to comply with these regulations may result in offences under the Local Authorities Election Act.
Notice of Intent
Candidates must file a Notice of Intent, in order to accept campaign contributions or incur campaign expenses. This is a new requirement for the 2025 Municipal Election under the Local Authorities Election Act. Notices of intent must be filed with Rocky View County before or at the same time as a candidate files their nomination paperwork.
It is an offense under the Local Authorities Election Act to accept campaign contributions or incur campaign expenses without first filing a notice of intent with Rocky View County.
Campaign Contributions
The Local Authorities Election Act defines a campaign contribution as any money, personal property, real property, or service provided to a candidate’s campaign without fair market value compensation from that candidate.
Candidates may only receive campaign contributions from eligible contributors, which has changed for the 2025 Municipal Election. Please refer to the Local Authorities Election Act for a list of organizations that are prohibited from providing campaign contributions to candidates, which includes:
- Anonymous contributors
- Individuals who do not ordinarily reside in Alberta
- Corporations that do not carry on business in Alberta
- Non-profit organizations that receive grant funding from the municipality
Candidates may receive campaign contributions as follows:
| Type of Contributor |
Allowable Contributions |
| Candidate (self-funded contribution to own campaign) |
Maximum of $10,000 per campaign period |
| Individual (must be ordinarily resident in Alberta) |
Maximum of $5,000 per contributor per campaign period |
| Corporation, Alberta trade union, or Alberta employee organization (must not be prohibited under the Local Authorities Election Act) |
Maximum of $5,000 per contributor per campaign period |
Note: contributors may provide contributions to multiple candidates in the same municipality, not to exceed a total of $5,000 between all candidates. For example, a contributor may provide a contribution of $2,500 to one candidate in one electoral division and another contribution of up to $2,500 to a different candidate in a different electoral division.
All candidates must keep track of their campaign contributions throughout the election and provide an itemized list of contributions received in their pre- and post-election campaign disclosure statements.
All candidates must issue a receipt for every campaign contribution received.
Campaign Expenses
The Local Authorities Election Act defines a campaign expense as any expense incurred by a candidate, or non-monetary contribution received by a candidate, that is used to directly promote or oppose a candidate during a campaign period.
Campaign expenses include:
- Production of advertising or promotional material
- Distribution, broadcast, or publication of advertising or promotional material in any media or by any other means during a campaign period, including the use of a capital asset
- The salary or expenses for services of a chief financial officer
- Securing a meeting place
- Conducing election surveys or other surveys or research during a campaign period
- Production of a review engagement, as defined in the Chartered Professional Accountants Act, for expenses or contributions of $50,000 or more
Candidates for Rocky View County must not exceed $20,000 in campaign expenses during an election year. This amount is established in accordance with the Local Authorities Election Act and the Expense Limits Regulation.
All candidates must keep track of their campaign expenses throughout the election and provide an itemized list of their expenditures with their pre- and post-election campaign disclosure statements. This includes candidates who are entirely self-funded.
All candidates must obtain a receipt for every campaign expense incurred.
Pre-Election Campaign Disclosures
All candidates for the 2025 Municipal Election must file a pre-election campaign disclosure statement in accordance with the Local Authorities Election Act. This includes self-funded candidates, candidates who withdraw their nominations, or individuals who filed a notice of intent but did not proceed to file their nomination paperwork to become a candidate.
- Pre-election campaign disclosures are for the period of January 1, 2025 to July 31, 2025
- Candidates must submit their pre-election campaign disclosures to Rocky View County no later than September 30, 2025.
Pre-election campaign disclosure statements must be completed using Form 26 – Campaign Disclosure Statement and Financial Statement (PDF download). Pre-election campaign disclosures may be submitted to Rocky View County through one of the following methods:
In person at the County Hall during regular business hours; or
By mail to the County Hall:
262075 Rocky View Point
Rocky View County, AB, T4A 0X2
Attention: Returning Officer
Similar to candidate nomination paperwork, disclosures submitted by email will not be accepted. Please do not use the after-hours dropbox for election-related documents.
Rocky View County will make pre-election candidate campaign disclosures available on the Candidate List webpage when available.
Post-Election Campaign Disclosures
All candidates for the 2025 Municipal Election are required to file a post-election campaign disclosure statement in accordance with the Local Authorities Election Act. This includes self-funded candidates, candidates who withdraw their nominations, or individuals who filed a notice of intent but did not proceed to file their nomination paperwork to become a candidate.
- Post-election campaign disclosures are for the period of January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025
- Candidates must submit their post-election campaign disclosures to Rocky View County no later than March 1, 2026.
Post-election campaign disclosure statements must be completed using Form 26 – Campaign Disclosure Statement and Financial Statement (PDF download). Post-election campaign disclosures may be submitted to Rocky View County through one of the following methods:
In person at the County Hall during regular business hours; or
By mail to the County Hall:
262075 Rocky View Point
Rocky View County, AB, T4A 0X2
Attention: Returning Officer
Similar to candidate nomination paperwork, disclosures submitted by email will not be accepted. Please do not use the after-hours dropbox for election-related documents.
Rocky View County will make post-election candidate campaign disclosures available on the County’s website when available.
Campaign Period
For the purposes of the Local Authorities Election Act, campaign contributions, and campaign expenses, the campaign period for the 2025 municipal election is defined as:
- January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025
Campaign Accounts
Candidates must open a dedicated campaign account at a financial institution for the purposes of their election campaign. Campaign accounts must be opened by candidates:
- At the time a candidate files their notice of intent with Rocky View County
- As soon as possible after campaign contributions exceed $1,000
Questions?
If you have questions regarding campaign finances, contributions, or expenses, please contact Rocky View County Elections at elections@rockyview.ca or (403) 230-1401.