January 15, 2027: what is due, and what happens if it is late

Every candidate in British Columbia's October 17, 2026 general local elections owes Elections BC a campaign financing disclosure statement. The deadline is fixed in law, the late window is short, and missing both costs the candidate the right to run, or the seat they just won.

Who has to file

Every candidate, for every campaign. Elections BC's guide says the financial agent files the statement "even if the candidate withdrew, was acclaimed, or had few or no financial transactions". The candidate must make sure the agent files it. A candidate can be their own financial agent, and then the job is theirs.

A candidate who ran for two offices, say council and school board, ran two campaigns, with two campaign accounts, and files two statements.

The dates

The Local Elections Campaign Financing Act gives 90 days after general voting day to file without a fee, and up to 120 days with a $500 late filing fee. For this election that means:

Why February 16 and not February 14? Day 120 is Sunday, February 14, and Monday, February 15 is Family Day. Elections BC moves a deadline that falls on a weekend or holiday to the next business day.

What the statement holds

It is a set of Elections BC forms. Two go in every statement: the cover page (Form 4504300, two pages) and the campaign financing summary (Form 4504301). Endorsed candidates add their campaign financing arrangement. The rest are filed only when there is something to report:

• contributions, with the name, residential address, date and amount of everyone who gave $100 or more in total (Forms 4504302 and 4504303);
• loans, other income and transfers, and any prohibited contributions (Forms 4504304 to 4504306);
• election expenses, split between the election period (January 1 to September 18) and the campaign period (September 19 to October 17), and any shared with other candidates (Forms 4504307 and 4504308);
• other expenses, fundraising functions, surplus funds and former financial agents (Forms 4504309 to 4504312).

The candidate and the financial agent both sign a declaration on the cover page that the statement "completely and accurately discloses the information required". Elections BC publishes the statements; contributors' addresses are obscured first, but a financial agent's own address is not.

How to file

Elections BC prefers its Secure Online Filing Application. Scanned statements can also go by email to electoral.finance@elections.bc.ca, or by fax, courier or hand. By mail, a postmark does not count: the statement must arrive by the deadline. Elections BC confirms receipt, and may contact you before the deadline if something stops it being accepted.

If it is late

A statement not received by January 15 can still be filed up to February 16, 2027, with a $500 late filing fee payable to the Minister of Finance (cash, money order, certified cheque or online through PayBC). Elections BC publishes the names of late filers and tells the local jurisdiction.

After February 16 the penalties in section 64 of the Act apply automatically. The candidate is disqualified from being nominated for, elected to or holding local office until after the next general local elections. If the candidate won, they stop holding office and the seat becomes vacant, which means a by-election. Failing to file is also an offence: Elections BC's guide says a candidate or financial agent who fails to file is liable to a fine of up to $10,000, up to two years in prison, or both.

What happened last time

After the 2022 general local elections, with a January 13, 2023 deadline:

The 66 are 58 candidates disqualified for filing failures, including the 48 who never filed and 10 who did not file a supplementary report Elections BC asked for, and 8 whose elector organization was deregistered. All 66 were disqualified until after the 2026 elections.

After you file

• Elections BC reviews statements. If it asks for a supplementary report, it is due within 30 days of the notice. If you find a change yourself, you file one too.
• Once the filing is done, the financial agent hands the records to the candidate, who keeps them in British Columbia for five years after voting day.
• A surplus has rules: the candidate's own money contributions can be repaid first; then under $500 goes to the candidate or as directed, and $500 or more goes in full to the jurisdiction.

A plan that lands before January 15

1. November: pay the last bills, get the final bank statement, and collect missing contributor addresses while people remember.
2. December: fill in the forms and tie the totals to the bank. Deal with any surplus.
3. Early January: both signatures on the cover page, then file. Leave a week for anything Elections BC flags before the deadline.