Joint Compliance Audit Committee

The City of Burlington, the Town of Oakville, the Town of Halton Hills, and the Regional Municipality of Halton have established a Joint Compliance Audit Committee.

This Committee is required by the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 (the Act) to:

Consider applications for compliance audit of the campaign finances of Candidates and/or Registered Third Parties and decide whether they should be granted or rejected. If an application is granted, appoint an Auditor to conduct a compliance audit of the Candidate’s and/or Registered Third Party’s election campaign finances
Consider the Auditor’s report and if the report contains a conclusion of apparent contravention of the Act, decide whether to commence a legal proceeding against the Candidate and/or Registered Third Party for the apparent contravention
Receive and consider report(s) from the Clerk identifying any contributors to a Candidate and/or Registered Third Party who appear to have contravened established contribution limits and decide whether to commence a legal proceeding against the contributor for the apparent contravention.

Requesting an audit

To file an application for a compliance audit request of a Candidate’s and/or Registered Third Party’s election campaign finances:

An elector who is entitled to vote in an election and believes on reasonable grounds that a Candidate and/or Registered Third Party has contravened a provision of the Act relating to election campaign finances is required to complete the application for Election Compliance Audit providing reasons and supporting documentation.
The application for a compliance audit for a Candidate and/or Registered Third Party and any supporting documentation must be filed with the Clerk at: City of Burlington, 426 Brant St., P.O. Box 5013, Burlington, ON L7R 3Z6

The Act provides that an application for a compliance audit for the Oct. 26, 2026 election must be made within 90 days after the latest of the following dates:

The filing date under section 88.30 – Tuesday, March 30, 2027, by 2 p.m.
The date the Candidate and/or Registered Third Party filed a financial statement, if the statement was filed within 30 days after the March 30, 2027, filing date
The Candidate and/or Registered Third Party’s supplementary filing date, if any, under section 88.30 – Friday Sept. 24, 2027, by 2 p.m.
The date on which Candidate and/or Registered Third Party’s extension, if any under subsection 88.23(6) or 88.27(3) expires.

Dates and details on filing of financial statements, including grace periods and extensions can be found on the Ministry of Municipal Affairs website.

Requests for audits for school board candidates must be filed with the applicable school board.

Application for a Compliance Audit

Audit Process

Within 30 days after receiving the application, the Compliance Audit Committee will consider the application and determine if an audit is required or if the application is rejected.

The decision of the Committee regarding whether an audit is required or if the application is rejected, may be appealed to the Ontario Court of Justice within 15 days after the decision is made.

If the Committee grants the audit, the auditor will conduct the audit to determine if the Candidate or Registered Third Party has complied with the requirements of the Municipal Elections Act with regard to election campaign finances.

The auditor will provide a report to the Clerk, the Candidate or Registered Third Party and the Applicant.

The committee will consider the report within 30 days of receiving it and determines whether legal proceedings should be commenced against the Candidate or Registered Third Party.

Members to the Joint Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee (2026-2030)

Pursuant to the Joint Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee Terms of Reference (2026-2030) and the Joint Compliance Audit Committee Administrative Practices and Procedures, the Selection Committee has completed its recruitment and selection process and hereby appoints the following individuals to serve as members of the Joint Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee for the term coincident with the 2026-2030 municipal election cycle:

Ryan Chen
Melissa Coulson
Max Katz
David Nusko
Evan Read
Robert Serpe
Zachary Spicer

The appointments were made by the Selection Committee in accordance with the eligibility, qualification, and selection criteria established in the Committee's governing documents. The Committee is responsible for considering applications for compliance audits and related matters under the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, as amended.

Term and commitment

The Committee was established in September 2026 and will continue until 2030. Following an initial meeting in early 2027, the Committee convenes as required when applications are received. Meetings may be held in a hybrid format.

Background

The Joint Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee is an independent body established by participating municipalities to fulfill the requirements of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996. Committee members are selected through a competitive recruitment process and appointed by the Selection Committee in accordance with the approved Terms of Reference and Administrative Practices and Procedures.

About Committee selections for 2026-2030

To support a fair and transparent auditing process and in alignment with the Council-approved Terms of Reference for the Committee, people with a connection to a Candidate and/or a Registered Third Party for the 2026, 2022 and 2018 elections cannot be appointed to the Committee. This includes:

A connection through a Family member
An employment, contractual, business or partnership relationship
Assisting the campaign of any Candidate or Registered Third Party either directly or indirectly, including providing professional advice and/or prepared financial statements for an election candidate or any third-party advertiser

Committee members also cannot be:

An employee or officer of a partnering municipality
A Member of Council of a partnering municipality
A candidate in the municipal election
A registered third-party in a partnering municipality

Joint Compliance Audit Committee Meetings

Meeting Date	Agenda	Decisions
June 04, 2019	Meeting Agenda	Giacomodonato decision letter [PDF] Paikin decision letter [PDF]
July 22, 2019	Meeting Agenda	Williams decision letter [PDF] Nisan decision letter [PDF]
Jan. 23, 2020	Meeting Agenda	Nisan decision letter [PDF]