Campaign Finances

Government

New Pre-election Disclosure Statement Requirement

For any campaign contributions collected from January 1 to July 31, 2025, a disclosure statement must be filed with the Returning Officer on or before September 30, 2025.

Disclosure Requirements

For the 2025 municipal election, a disclosure statement must be filed for each year of the campaign period if contributions were collected in that year.

  • If any campaign contributions were collected in 2024, a disclosure statement must be filed with the Returning Officer on or before March 1, 2025.
  • For any campaign contributions collected from January 1 to July 31, 2025, a disclosure statement must be filed with the Returning Officer on or before September 30, 2025.
  • For any campaign contributions collected from August 1 to December 31, 2025, a disclosure statement must be filed with the Returning Officer on or before March 1, 2026.

Please use the legislated Campaign Disclosure Statement and Financial Statement (Form 26).

Form 26 – Campaign Disclosure Statement

Campaign Expense Limits

New for the 2025 general municipal election is the Expense Limits Regulation. Candidates should review and ensure they comply with the Expense Limit Regulation.

Expense Limit Regulation

For the 2025 election, expense limits for candidates in the Town of Edson are set out below:

Expense limits for Candidates for Councillor

Year before a general election (2024) $10,000
Year of a general election (2025) $20,000

Expense limits for candidates for Mayor

Year before a general election (2024) $10,000
Year of a general election (2025) $20,000

Campaign Contributions

Candidates are required to issue a receipt for every contribution in accordance with the requirements of the Local Authorities Election Act.

Contribution limits

Contributor Limit Time period
Individual - Alberta resident $5,000 October 31, 2024 - December 31, 2024
Individual - Alberta resident $5,000 January 1, 2025 - December 31, 2025
Corporations (except prohibited organizations), Alberta trade unions and Alberta employee organizations $5,000 October 31, 2024 - December 31, 2025
Candidate - contribution to self $10,000 October 31, 2024 - December 31, 2025

Contribution FAQs

  • Contributions include money, personal property, real property or service provided to a candidate for the benefit or their campaign without fair market value compensation.
  • Include contributions to one’s own campaign.
  • Does not include voluntary services.

Rules for campaign contributions are set out in Part 5.1 of the Local Authorities Election Act (LAEA).

Contributors are responsible for ensuring that they are not prohibited from contributing and that their contribution does not exceed the limits, but candidates and/or their representatives must make every reasonable effort to advise prospective contributors of the rules in Part 5.1 of the LAEA.

  • Corporations, except prohibited organizations.
    • Prohibited organizations include municipalities, municipally controlled corporations, public post-secondary institutions, etc. Check section 147.1(1)(f) of the LAEA for the full list.
  • Individuals ordinarily resident in Alberta.
  • Alberta trade unions or Alberta employee organizations.

Candidates must file a disclosure statement with the Election Office on or before March 1 of each year, if contributions were collected or expenses were incurred in the previous year.

The LAEA requires all candidates to open a bank account once they receive $1,000 in total contributions. This includes monetary contributions by the candidate for their own campaign. If a candidate’s contributions do not exceed $1,000, they are not required to open a campaign bank account.

For further clarification, please see Alberta Municipalites response or Municipal Affairs' Election web page.