Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives brought in more money than the governing Liberals from April through June, but more donors contributed to Mark Carney's party.Blair Gable/Reuters
More people donated to the Liberal Party than the Conservatives in the second quarter, as the gap in the amount raised for the two parties narrowed.
Financial data published by Elections Canada showed Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives brought in just over $5-million compared with the Liberals’ $4.36-million in April, May, and June.
But Mark Carney’s Liberals had 33,439 donors, while the Conservatives had 33,024.
In the first three months of the year, the Conservatives raised $9.43-million from 40,410 donors compared with the Liberals’ $6.82-million from 36,208 donors.
The narrowing of the dollar and donor gap between the parties will likely add to the pressure facing Mr. Poilievre as his party continues to lag behind the governing Liberals in the polls.
This summer has seen his MPs openly spar with each other online over policy, raising questions about caucus unity. Mr. Poilievre also drew the ire of some in the conservative establishment for appearing to attack one of the candidates for B.C. Conservative leadership in his speech at a Calgary Stampede event.
A spokesperson for the Liberal Party said the results build off the party’s best-ever first quarter fundraising outside an election, three by-election wins and more than 4,500 people attending their party convention in May.
“While Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives continue to focus on division and have opposed our plan and progress, we’ll remain focused on delivering real results for Canadians,” Matteo Rossi said in an e-mail.
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Conservative Party spokesperson Sarah Fischer said the fact that the Conservatives still raise more money than the Liberals speaks to Canadians’ continued frustration with the government.
“Despite the Carney Liberals making life more expensive, they continue to donate their hard-earned dollars to support Pierre Poilievre’s plan to make Canada affordable again,” she said in an e-mail.
In the second quarter, the Bloc Québécois raised just over $221,000 and the NDP raised $1.2-million.
Quarterly figures are difficult to compare over time, as political events like party conventions, general elections and leadership races can affect how much money a party is able to raise in a given period of time.
Over all of 2025, the Conservatives brought in $48.4-million, while the Liberals raised $29.6-million.
The first six months of that year included former Liberal leader Justin Trudeau quitting, Mr. Carney winning the race to replace him and then a snap election.
In 2024 – when there was neither an election nor a leadership campaign for either party – the Conservatives brought in $41.7-million and the Liberals raised $14.8-million.
Over the course of 2024, the Conservatives had built a double-digit lead over the governing Liberals in opinion polls and, at one point, were predicted to win a sweeping majority government in the next election.
But despite outspending the Liberals two-to-one in 2025, the Tories lost the election last year and voters returned a Liberal minority government.
The Liberals remain ahead of the Conservatives in public polls and hold a majority government after five opposition MPs crossed the floor and the Liberals won three by-elections.
There are three more by-elections scheduled for the end of August, with two in ridings currently held by the party.
The third seat, in Quebec, was vacated when the Liberals appointed the Conservative MP from the riding to the Senate.