Candidates

The City has prepared the 2022 Candidate Packages in two parts:

• Part A - Peterborough specific Candidate Package including nomination procedures, election sign guidelines, campaign expense limits, ward boundary maps, mandatory submission forms, and more. Part A is available at the link below and in print format from the office of the City Clerk.
• Part B – The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) Candidate Guide provided by the province. Part B is available at the link below.

Part A: City of Peterborough Municipal Candidate Guide

This is the list of mandatory submissions with the candidate’s nomination and will contain Peterborough specific regulations and guidelines such as election sign bylaw guidelines:

1. Nomination Paper - Form 1 (Ontario) - unsigned
2. Government Issue Identification
3. 25 Endorsements by eligible electors on Form 2 – Endorsement of Nomination with original signatures.
4. EL 52 – Consent to Release Personal Information website release form signed.
5. EL 14 – Candidate Declaration - Proper use of the Voters’ List form signed.
6. EL 200 – Candidate Name Spelling and pronunciation form signed.
7. Filing Fee – office specific ($200 – Mayor / $100 – Candidate) Payment can be made by cash, debit, credit card, certified cheque, or money order payable to the City of Peterborough. No other payment methods will be accepted.

Part B: MMAH Candidate Package 

Candidates will be required to make an appointment with the Clerk’s office to file their nomination papers by emailing a request to Election2022@peterborough.ca.

Nominations will be accepted no earlier than May 2, 2022 between the hours of 9 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Applicants should request the desired date and time to attend City Hall in their email. Someone from the Clerk’s office will respond and confirm the appointment date and time.

For convenience, Candidates will be provided access to the Nomination Form 1 fillable form online (coming soon).

Candidates may submit the form electronically by email with their request for an appointment to file their unsigned nomination by completing the fillable Form 1 online, re-save the form onto their computer, and click print at the bottom of the form.

Please do not sign the form until you attend City Hall and produce valid photo identification to satisfy the Clerk’s procedure for accepting nominations. Nominations are not considered accepted unless the applicant has attended the Clerk’s office in City Hall and satisfied the procedure.

• individuals who are normally residents in Ontario
• the candidate and their spouse

Contribution receipts must be issued for every contribution you receive. The receipt should show who made the contribution, the date and the value and can only come from one person (e.g. in the case of a joint account). You are required to list the names and addresses of every contributor who gives more than $100 in total to your campaign in your financial statement. You should keep a record of the names and addresses of every contributor, regardless of the value of their contribution, because the same contributor may make multiple contributions that end up totalling more than $100.

Note: Contribution receipts are not tax receipts. Contributions to municipal and school board campaigns cannot be credited against provincial or federal income taxes.

Ineligible contributors

• corporation
• trade union
• a federal political party, constituency association, or a registered candidate in a federal election
• a provincial political party, constituency association, or a registered candidate or leadership contestant
• a federal or provincial government, a municipality or a school board

Ineligible contributions

• made outside your campaign period
• from an anonymous source (except for donations of $25 or less at a fundraising event)
• from an ineligible source (e.g. someone who doesn’t live in Ontario, a corporation or trade union, etc)
• greater than the $1,200 limit or the $5,000 total limit
• a cash contribution greater than $25 from funds that do not belong to the contributor who gave them to you

Ineligible contributions must be returned as soon as you learn that the contribution is ineligible. If you cannot return the contribution, you must turn it over to the clerk.

An individual’s maximum contribution (money, goods, and services) to any one candidate or registered third party is $1,200. An individual may contribute a maximum of $5,000 for all candidates on the same Council or a maximum of $5,000 for all registered third parties within the municipality. Other than contributions made by candidates and their spouses, contributions to candidates can be made only by individuals residing in Ontario.

Corporations or trade unions must register as third party advertisers. If a candidate sells items for $25 or less in order to raise campaign funds, the money is considered campaign income rather than a contribution. In this case, the candidate does not have to issue a receipt, or make sure that the person buying the item is eligible to make a campaign contribution. Contributions in excess of $25 must be made in a manner that connects the contributor to the payment. Anonymous contributions are paid to the City Clerk.

The overall spending limit for your campaign is calculated based on the number of electors who are eligible to vote for the office that you are running for. The formula to calculate the limit is:

• for head of council: $7,500 plus $0.85 per eligible elector
• for council member or trustee: $5,000 plus $0.85 per eligible elector

There is a separate spending limit for expenses related to the holding of parties and other expressions of appreciation after the close of voting. This spending limit is calculated as ten percent of the amount of your general spending limit.

Interim campaign expense limits have been calculated based on the List of Electors as it existed on September 15, 2018 in accordance with the Municipal Elections Act. Final campaign expenses will be calculated using the number of eligible electors on the List of Electors as it exists on September 15, 2022. Candidates may spend to a maximum of
whichever calculation is higher.

There is a limit on the total amount that you and your spouse may contribute to your own campaign. The formula to calculate the limit is:

• for head of council candidates: $7,500 plus 20 cents per elector to a maximum of $25,000
• for other council offices: $5,000 plus 20 cents per elector to a maximum of $25,000 The municipal clerk will tell you your self-funding limit.

Interim self-funding limits have been calculated based on the List of Electors as it existed on September 15, 2018.

Final self-funding limits will be calculated using the number of eligible electors on the List of Electors as it exists on September 15, 2022. Candidates and their spouses may contribute to a maximum of whichever calculation is higher.

All candidates have limits on the amount they may spend toward the cost of holding parties and making other expressions of appreciation after Election Day. Interim campaign appreciation limits have been calculated as ten percent of the amount calculated for the interim campaign expense limit. The final campaign appreciation limits will be calculated as 10 per cent of the amount calculated for the final campaign expense limits. Candidates may spend to a maximum of whichever calculation is higher.

Candidates must provide specific information about their election advertising. This applies to all advertising, regardless of format or method.

Candidates, or those advertising on their behalf, will need to provide broadcasters and publishers with information including name of the candidate, name of the individual or organization taking out the advertisement, as well as address and telephone number of the individual interacting with the broadcaster or publisher on behalf of the candidate.

The broadcaster or publisher is then responsible for retaining this information along with a copy of the advertisement and invoice for a period of four years and making this information available to the public for inspection in that time period.

Penalties

Penalties may apply if you are convicted of an offence:

• A fine of up to $25,000
• Ineligibility to vote or run in the next regular election
• Up to six months imprisonment
• Forfeiture of your elected office, if the judge finds that you committed the offence knowingly

If you are convicted of exceeding the spending limit, you may also be fined the amount by which you exceeded the limit.

There are three contraventions of the Act where penalties apply automatically:

• If you fail to apply to the court for an extension by the filing deadline or file a financial statement by the end of the 30-day grace period
• If your financial statement shows that you exceeded a spending limit
• If you fail to turn over your surplus to the clerk when you file your financial statement

The penalty for these contraventions is that you forfeit your office (if you won the election) and you become ineligible to run or to be appointed to fill a vacancy until after the 2026 election.

Auditor's report

If your campaign expenses or contributions total more than $10,000 you must have an auditor review your financial statement and provide a report.

A compliance audit committee is required to be established by each municipality and school board. An eligible elector who believes you have contravened the election finance rules may apply for a compliance audit of your campaign finances. Please see the section below for more information.

If an eligible elector believes that a candidate or third party advertiser has contravened an election campaign finance rule, the elector may apply for a compliance audit. Compliance audit committees are required to provide brief written reasons for their decisions.

Meetings of the compliance audit committee shall be open to the public, but the committee is permitted to deliberate in private. 

The term of the Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee for the City of Peterborough corresponds with the next term of Council, beginning November 15, 2022 and ending November 14, 2026.