Voters told Taproot they want campaign contributions disclosed before the election

The growing responses to Taproot's listening work with voters in the lead up to the 2025 municipal election in October reveal that many want to know more about who gives mayoral and council candidates their campaign money.

Earlier this year, Taproot launched our listening campaign at several in-person and virtual events, as well as a 2025 election question on our site. We have been gathering responses ever since, and at last count more than 800 people have provided them. The listening was built around a simple question: "What issues do you care about as you consider who to vote for in the 2025 municipal election, and why?"

At least six respondents we heard from doing this work told Taproot that they want to know where candidates get their campaign money from before they mark their ballot.

"Are you prepared to publicly disclose precisely how much money you have raised in campaign donations, and from who specifically, both individuals and companies this money came from and how much each gave you?" one person asked of candidates.

"I want donation transparency BEFORE we vote," another said.

A third person said they want "no political parties or corporate donations" in Edmonton's election. Two other people said they want to know what influence donors wield with candidates and to see all donations disclosed before election day.

Another said they want to see an end to "imbalances in campaign (spending) and contributions."

Taproot has worked to explain some of the intricacies of the finance rules that govern the 2025 election, as well as changes that have been made in advance of the vote. We learned that there is more money available to partied candidates than there is for independents, how penalties for financially delinquent candidates have changed, and how candidates must disclose their donations and spending differently than in 2021.

Disclosure deadlines

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs told Taproot that the Local Authorities Election Act, which governs elections and donations to campaigns, has been changed to increase transparency of the money candidates receive via donors and money to pay for advocacy by third parties ahead of the vote.

New rules require candidates in municipal elections to disclose the donations they received in the first six months of 2025 by Sept. 30, 2025, before the Oct. 20 vote. The rules require candidates to disclose donations for the entirety of 2025 by March 1, 2026.

"This new pre-election disclosure helps to ensure that voters have the information they need to make informed decisions on election day that are in the best interests of themselves, their families, and their communities," a press secretary for Dan Williams, the minister of municipal affairs, told Taproot.

The province does not audit the financial disclosures, the press secretary said.

Donation rules

Albertan individuals, corporations, and employee organizations (including unions) are allowed to donate an aggregate of $5,000 to their chosen council and mayor candidates. They may also donate the same amount to parties in Edmonton or Calgary. The party then has the discretion to spend that money on any affiliated candidate's campaign. That means you could donate $5,000 as a citizen on council and mayor candidates, plus another $5,000 on parties. Then, if you own companies or run employee groups in Alberta, you could donate $5,000 more from each of them to both candidates and parties.

The United Conservative Party government's rule changes allow donations by corporations and employee organizations in the coming election. The party reversed the Alberta New Democratic Party government's ban on these donations from 2018, with the passage of Bill 20 in October. The office of municipal affairs said this change makes who donates how much to who more explicit.

"While corporations and unions were prohibited from donating directly to candidates in 2021, they continued to be involved in Alberta's municipal elections through third-party advertisers," Kevin Lee, a ministry spokesperson, said in an email. "Voters will know which entities are backing their candidates (this year)."

The Alberta government's laws allow candidates to receive more money from donors than they are allowed to spend. Spending limits for mayoral candidates in Edmonton are $1 for every resident of the city, and the limit for council candidates is $1 per the average population of a ward, which is around 89,000 people. A fact sheet provided by the Alberta government notes the limit is $20,000 for both types of candidates if that is greater than the population-based figures, but that would not be the case in Edmonton.

If candidates for either council or mayor have $1,000 or more left over after they reach their spending limit, the minister's office said, they must donate it to a registered charity. If the surplus is less than $1,000, the candidate may keep it to seek nomination in the next election, but must donate it to a charity if they don't.

Campaign expenses did not have a limit in 2021, though the $5,000 limit for citizen donations was in place. However, candidates continue to face a $10,000 limit on self-financing, and they face penalties if they exceed it.

Consequences for breaking rules

Candidates who accept more contributions or spend more on their campaign than the rules allow could face up to $10,000 in fines, the same maximum Alberta had in place in 2021, even though the province did not have spending limits at the time.

Three candidates were sanctioned by Elections Alberta last year because they exceeded the self-contribution limit in the 2021 Edmonton municipal election. For example, Michael Oshry spent $223,250 of his own money on his 2021 mayoral bid and was fined $1,500.

Oshry's fine was 0.0067% of the total spent on his campaign and 0.007% of the total spent beyond the $10,000 limit. If a candidate overspent by that much this year, they could be subject to a 0.04% penalty of $10,000.

Parties can fundraise

Municipal parties are now allowed in Edmonton and Calgary. They may receive the same donations that individual candidates can, but they have the option to spread these dollars amongst their membership in whatever way they see fit. That means anyone in Alberta could donate $5,000 as an individual, as a corporation (or corporation_s_), as a union leader, and so forth to both a candidate and a party in any municipality. That means donors could donate $5,000 to parties in Edmonton and another $5,000 to parties in Calgary. Mayoral candidate, Coun. Andrew Knack, previously told Taproot that this is unfair to independent candidates.

Like parties, slates of candidates are required to register in Edmonton and Calgary, but they do not get the same donation perks as parties.

Parties face the same penalties for excessive donations and overspending as independent candidates.

Spending limits for third-party advertisers

Third-party advertisers can now spend $0.50 per person in a municipality to promote candidates between May 1 and the election. A third-party advertiser is anyone who spends money to lobby for their preferred candidate outside of an official role with the candidate or their party.

"We want to ensure that candidates are fully transparent about where their campaign dollars are coming from, so we have increased financial disclosure requirements and introduced donation limits to third-party advertisers and candidates," the ministry's spokesperson said.

In 2021, voters filed complaints to Edmonton Elections about a group called Act For Edmonton. The group spent at least $50,000 on Facebook ads in support of free transit and affordable housing. The ads used similar colours to Mayor Amarjeet Sohi's campaign.

Act For Edmonton maintained that it was not a third-party advertiser because it was advocating for issues, not candidates. Still, then-mayoral candidate Kim Krushell shared concerns about the data Act For Edmonton collected with the ad campaign. (Krushell was later sanctioned by Elections Alberta for breaking the self-contribution limit for her 2021 mayoral campaign.)

Act For Edmonton is not on Elections Alberta's public list of administrative penalties. The Take Back Alberta group and its employees received 13 sanctions this year, which is all but one of the year's total.

Three third-party advertisers have so far registered with Edmonton Elections for the 2025 election. They are Amalgamated Transit Union Local 569, which represents Edmonton Transit Service workers, Working Families Edmonton, and Edmonton Forward.

Climate Justice Edmonton has cancelled its third-party registration this year.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct who has authority to audit financial disclosures from candidates or enforce any penalties.