Conservatives raised a record $48.5M last year — and spent even more

Sarah Ritchie · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Jul 09, 2025 5:30 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

The Conservative Party's spending outstripped its grounds fundraising full successful 2024 arsenic it ramped up advertizing and interior polling up of the national election.

According to records filed with Elections Canada, the enactment brought successful astir $42 cardinal successful donations and different $5 cardinal successful rank fees past year, with full revenues of conscionable implicit $48.5 million.

The enactment spent conscionable shy of $50 cardinal implicit the aforesaid play — an summation of astir $13 cardinal implicit 2023.

A ample magnitude of that wealth went to advertising, with $7.8 cardinal spent connected TV, $7.1 cardinal connected integer and $1.5 cardinal connected radio. More than $2.5 cardinal went to probe and polling.

The $16.5 cardinal the Conservatives spent connected advertizing was astir treble the sum the enactment spent connected ads successful 2023.

In September, the Conservatives launched an advertisement spot featuring astir of the messages they'd instrumentality into the predetermination run successful the spring, including the "let's bring it home" tag line.

In the ad's voiceover, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre pledged to "cap spending, axe taxes, reward work, physique homes, uphold family, halt crime, unafraid borders, rearm our forces, reconstruct our freedom."

Poilievre told right-wing influencer Jordan Peterson successful a December podcast interrogation that helium had done 600 nationalist events implicit the erstwhile year, including tours of businesses and factories and the rallies that became a signature of his leadership.

The Conservatives logged $1.5 cardinal successful spending connected question and hospitality and conscionable implicit $8 cardinal connected fundraising efforts successful 2024.

Sarah Fischer, the party's manager of communications, said successful an email that the Conservatives ended the twelvemonth with conscionable shy of $16 cardinal successful currency and nett assets of conscionable implicit $9 million.

"As is emblematic successful the pre-writ period, successful 2024 the enactment spent somewhat much than it raised," said Fischer.

The Conservatives were the lone enactment to record yearly fiscal statements with Elections Canada by the deadline; each the different parties were granted an extension.

Conservative strategist Fred DeLorey said he's "never seen thing like" the party's fundraising totals and he's not acrophobic by the level of spending successful 2024.

"That's what governmental parties are expected to do, particularly erstwhile you are the champion fundraising instrumentality successful the country," said DeLorey, seat of North Star Public Affairs and the Conservatives' 2021 run manager.

But helium said members should expect the enactment to instrumentality a superior look astatine whether its spending was effective, successful airy of the predetermination result.

WATCH | Poilievre to look enactment reappraisal pursuing predetermination loss:

By precocious December, the Conservatives appeared each but definite to signifier the adjacent government.

They had been relentless successful their attacks connected the unpopular authorities of Justin Trudeau and his government's signature clime policy, the user c price.

They were besides targeting past NDP person Jagmeet Singh and his party's determination to prop up the Liberal government.

The Conservatives failed to signifier authorities successful the April 28 election, contempt gaining seats and getting a larger stock of the ballot than they had successful caller decades.

Poilievre mislaid his long-held spot successful the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton. He's present moving successful an Aug. 18 byelection successful a agrarian Alberta riding.

"Were the close voters targeted? Did we thin excessively hard connected the anti-Trudeau and the anti-Singh messages, alternatively of making our ain case?" DeLorey said.

Conservative attacks targeting Singh ramped up successful the months starring into the election. In January, the enactment released an advertisement claiming Singh's enactment supported the Liberals successful bid to unafraid his MP pension.

Singh besides mislaid his spot and resigned. The NDP has been reduced to conscionable 7 MPs and nary longer has authoritative enactment presumption successful the House of Commons.

DeLorey said attacking the NDP person was "a foolish discarded of money."

The predetermination shaped up to beryllium a two-party race, with galore accepted New Democrat voters lending their enactment to the Liberals. However, the Conservatives besides picked up formerly NDP seats.

"I deliberation a precise thorough post-mortem should beryllium conducted connected each of this stuff. I'm not definite that's happening," DeLorey said.

A typical of the party's fundraising arm, the Conservative Fund, is required by the party's constitution to supply a fiscal study to delegates astatine the party's adjacent nationalist normal successful precocious January.

As leader, Poilievre is besides required to study to delegates and clasp an accountability session. And helium volition look a reappraisal of his enactment astatine the convention, which is being held successful Calgary.