Well-funded Conservatives spent $8.5M on advertising in 2023, trouncing other parties

The well-funded Conservative Party of Canada spent more than $8.5 million on advertising last year, substantially exceeding what its political rivals dropped to get their message out.

The Liberals spent just a fraction of that — around $381,000 — while the NDP spent only about $42,000.

The numbers are included in federal parties' annual financial returns for 2023, which Elections Canada posted online this week.

The Conservative statement shows the party 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 was sitting on nearly $2.8 million in cash by the end of December, a decrease of about $530,000 from what they started with in January.

The NDP did not report any cash holdings for 2023 as it was still paying off a loan from the 2021 election campaign, but the party said earlier this year it is now in the black.