Strong and Free Elections Act

The Strong and Free Elections Act makes a large set of changes to the Canada Elections Act, mostly aimed at foreign interference, fraud, and money in politics, plus a separate housekeeping law renaming some electoral districts.

On elections integrity, the bill creates new criminal offences for putting false or misleading information on nomination papers, signing more than one candidate's nomination paper, bribing or being bribed to vote a certain way (including in party nomination and leadership contests, not just general elections), spreading deepfakes or fake images/audio impersonating election officials or candidates, and making false statements about voting rules or election results. It also expands rules against "undue foreign influence," broadening who counts as a prohibited foreign actor (foreign states, foreign-controlled entities, unions without Canadian bargaining rights, etc.) and extending these foreign-influence bans to party nomination and leadership races, not just elections.

On money and contributions, third parties (advocacy groups) and political entities will be banned from accepting anonymous contributions or contributions made through cryptocurrency, money orders, or prepaid payment cards for political spending; any such improper contribution must be returned, destroyed, or forfeited to the government. Third parties will generally have to fund their regulated political activities using money from Canadian citizens or permanent residents, with a limited exception for organizations that use only a small share of outside contributions relative to their overall revenue. Reporting requirements are tightened, requiring third parties to disclose more detail about Canadian contributors.

The bill also requires political parties to have a proper policy for protecting Canadians' personal information, including safeguards, breach-notification duties, and rules against selling or maliciously disclosing personal data, as a condition of being registered or staying registered. It expands the powers of the Commissioner of Canada Elections to investigate and prosecute not just direct violations but conspiracies, attempts, counselling, and after-the-fact involvement in offences, and significantly raises the maximum fines/administrative penalties for many violations, especially those involving foreign money or improper contributions.

Finally, a separate part of the bill enacts a stand-alone law that officially renames a number of federal electoral districts (ridings) across several provinces, based on requests from the MPs who represent them, with the new names taking effect 90 days after the bill becomes law.

This bill amends the Canada Elections Act to create new prohibitions on foreign influence, bribery, false nomination information and certain contributions, and expands the investigative, penalty and enforcement powers of the Commissioner of Canada Elections and Chief Electoral Officer; it also renames several federal electoral districts.

• New prohibited conduct — creates offences and violations for foreign entities or persons influencing voters, nomination/leadership contests, or funding third-party political activity; bans accepting cryptoassets, money orders, or prepaid payment products as political contributions; bans anonymous contributions above set thresholds; and creates new offences for false or misleading statements about voting, candidacy, or election results, including AI-generated "deepfake" impersonation of election officials or candidates (with a parody/satire exception).
• Commissioner of Canada Elections' powers — the Commissioner (appointed under the Act, operating independently of the Chief Electoral Officer) gains explicit authority to pursue conspiracy, attempt, accessory-after-the-fact, and counselling liability for any offence under the Act, and gains court-like investigative powers — summoning witnesses, compelling sworn testimony, and requiring production or preservation of documents — enforceable through a judge's order.
• Information sharing with foreign governments — the Commissioner may disclose investigation-related information to foreign governments, international organizations, or their institutions, based on a memorandum of understanding the Commissioner alone negotiates; there is no requirement for parliamentary or judicial approval of these arrangements.
• Penalties — raises maximum administrative monetary penalties to $25,000 for individuals and $100,000 for corporations or entities for most violations, and for violations involving foreign funds, prohibited contributions, or improper third-party spending, the penalty can reach twice the value of the funds or property involved plus the base amount; courts may also impose a fine of up to five times the funds or value involved for certain foreign-entity offences.
• New obligations on political parties — parties must adopt and file a personal-information protection policy meeting criteria the Chief Electoral Officer must be "satisfied" meet requirements set out in the Act (including breach notification and a ban on selling personal data); non-compliance can block or reverse a party's registration.
• Discretion and thresholds left undefined in places — key terms like "real risk of significant harm," "appropriate steps," and the level of security safeguards "proportionate to sensitivity" are not further specified, leaving their application to the Chief Electoral Officer's or Commissioner's judgment; review of penalties above $8,500 (individuals) or $30,000 (entities) goes to the Chief Electoral Officer rather than an external body.