A compliance audit ensures that candidates in Ontario municipal elections follow the rules for campaign finances. If you think a candidate didn’t follow the rules, you can ask for an audit.
Municipal elections in Ontario, including those conducted by the City of Niagara Falls, are governed by the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 (MEA), which establishes rules for the administration of elections. The MEA assigns responsibility to the municipal Clerk for the administration of the election.
While the Office of the Clerk administers the election in accordance with the MEA, Staff cannot provide legal advice to candidates or third-party advertisers, nor do they have authority to investigate or review any campaign-related compliance matters, which are addressed through statutory compliance processes and the courts. In accordance with the MEA, neither the City Clerk nor any other City employee have a role in investigating concerns related to candidate or third-party advertising campaigns.
The Joint Compliance Audit Committee is a statutory body responsible for reviewing and making decisions on applications for municipal election campaign finance compliance audits, and on reports from the Clerk regarding apparent contraventions of contribution limits prescribed by the MEA resulting from the regular municipal election or any by-election held during the term of office for which the Committee was appointed.
The committee reviews your request, and if they agree, they’ll have an auditor examine the candidate’s finances more closely. After that, they review the auditor’s report and decide if legal action is needed. They also check reports from the Clerk about contributors who might have broken financial limits and make decisions about legal steps.
Eligible voters can request an audit if they reasonably believe a candidate or registered third party broke the campaign finance rules. Voters can do this even if the candidate hasn't filed a financial statement.
An eligible voter must be:
Applications related to a Niagara Falls Mayor or City Council candidate would be filed with our City Clerk.
Applications related to other candidates must be submitted to the office of the municipality clerk or local board secretary for which the candidate was nominated for office.
As per the Municipal Elections Act, applications must be made within 90 days after the latest of the following dates:
Applications for this term of council are closed.
Joint Niagara compliance audit committee participants
Joint Niagara compliance audit committee 2022-2026 term appointments
