Conservatives paid $8.5M on advertising in 2023, trouncing Liberals, NDP
In 2023, the Conservative party of Canada spent over $8.5 million on advertising, whereas the Liberal party only spent $381 000 and the NDP only about $42 000.
These numbers were found under the federal parties’ annual financial returns for 2023, posted by Elections Canada this week.
The Conservative held $16 million in cash by the end of 2023, spending about $5.8 million on television advertisements, $668 212 on radio, and over $2 million on ads listed as ‘other.’
The Liberal Party takes pride in the fact that they managed to limit their advertisement expenses to only $3 million in 2023.
Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre has been touring the country extensively since winning the leadership in 2022 as Conservative seek to expand the party base
The significant difference in advertising spending between the Conservative Party and its competitors, the Liberal and NDP parties, shows the Conservatives' focus on expanding their voter base ahead of the next election. The Conservatives aim to reach new voters and effectively communicate Pierre Poilievre's messages, even running a country-wide tour with their leader making appearances.
In any case, the Conservative Party is headed for their best financial year in several years, hoping to break the $30.9 million peak in 2019.
A significant portion of the funding was directed towards the convention held in Quebec City last year, organized by the Conservative Party. The event’s purpose was to broaden the party’s reach to a larger audience, mainly focusing on attracting new voters.
"All of this is being done to influence voters, especially in key ridings to support the party and our leader in the next election," Robert Staley, a Toronto lawyer named by Poilievre to lead the Conservative Fund at a party convention in Quebec City, said
"Our tour is not directed at bringing out the faithful," he said. "With our leader's tour we are trying to reach new voters with Pierre's common sense messages and it costs more to do it well, and we are doing it well.
"That means doing more to advertise events and try to reach people who otherwise wouldn't have supported the party."
Sources / Further Reading:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/conservatives-plan-more-ads-flush-with-cash-1.6960461
