The well-funded Conservative Party of Canada spent more than $8.5 million on advertising last year, far outpacing what its political rivals invested to get their message across.
The Liberals spent only a fraction of that amount, about $381,000, while the NDP spent only about $42,000.
The figures are detailed in the federal parties’ annual financial reports for 2023, which Elections Canada published online this week.
Since last summer, the Conservatives have held a large lead over the Liberals in national opinion polls. Even so, it is unlikely that the Liberal Party will be able to match the Conservatives’ advertising spending anytime soon.
The Liberals launched advertising campaigns before and during the 2015, 2019 and 2021 elections.
These played “an important role in how the Liberal Party of Canada was able to connect with more Canadians than ever before about Justin Trudeau’s positive plan to invest in the middle class,” said party spokesperson Parker Lund.
“And the same will be true for the next elections, when they come.”
The Conservatives and NDP did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Specifically, the Conservatives spent approximately $5.8 million on television advertising, $668,212 on radio advertising and more than $2 million on “other” advertising.
The Conservative Party remains prosperous, with the statement saying it held $16 million in cash at the end of 2023, an increase of more than $3.2 million from the start of the year.
The Liberal Party of Canada had nearly $2.8 million in cash at the end of December, a decrease of about $530,000 from what it started with in January.
The NDP reported no cash flow for 2023 because it was still paying off a loan from the 2021 election campaign, but the party said earlier this year it was now in the positive.
The filings show that the parties spend some of that money on fundraising, polling and research.
The Conservative Party spent more than $8.3 million on fundraising activities in 2023, while the Liberals spent nearly $3 million for the same reason — something they are particularly proud of.
“Documents filed with Elections Canada continue to highlight that Liberal supporters are getting significantly more value for their donations than Conservative supporters,” said Parker Lund.
But the Conservatives performed much better.
Annual returns show they managed to raise more than $35 million last year, while the Liberals raised $15 million and the NDP raised nearly $7 million.
When it comes to polling and research last year, the Conservatives spent over $1 million, while the Liberal Party spent about $60,000.