Conservatives are dominating in national fundraising, but the regional breakdown tells a different story
By:Éric Grenier · CBC News
The Conservatives have opened up their widest fundraising lead over the Liberals in years, but their national dominance masks what is a more competitive fight for dollars in some of the battlegrounds that will decide October’s federal election.
According to filings with Elections Canada, the Conservatives raised just over $8 million in the first three months of 2019. That was more than double the $3.9 million raised by the Liberals. It dwarfed the $1.2 million raised by the NDP, as well as the Greens’ $783,000 and the $215,000 raised by the Bloc Québécois.
Not since 2011 — when the Conservatives won a majority government under Stephen Harper — have the Conservatives out-paced the Liberals by more than $4 million in a single quarter.
But a detailed analysis of the data shows that the Conservative advantage is driven in large part by the party’s enormous fundraising edge in Western Canada. In other regions of the country, such as the swath of ridings in the Greater Toronto Area that likely will determine the winner of the election, the Conservatives do not enjoy the same kind of edge.
The quarterly filings with Elections Canada do not reveal the identities of every donor, but all contributors giving at least $200 in a quarter are listed, along with their postal codes and the cities in which they live.
This makes it possible to get an idea of where parties are doing their fundraising. Those $200-plus donations should give us a good image of the parties’ entire fundraising operations, since those donations tend to be highest where the parties are polling the strongest and they make up most of the money the Conservatives and Liberals raise.
Monday, April 20, 2026
