Joint Compliance Audit Committee

The Municipal Elections Act, 1996 requires all municipalities to appoint a Compliance Audit Committee. The Compliance Audit Committee is responsible for considering compliance audit requests related to election campaign finances, including:

• Considering whether an application for a compliance audit filed by an elector should be granted or rejected;
• Appointing an auditor, if the application is granted;
• Receiving and considering the auditor's report and deciding whether legal proceedings should be commenced;
• Determining whether to recover the costs of conducting the compliance audit from the applicant if the auditor's report indicates there were no apparent contraventions and if there were no reasonable grounds for the application;
• Receiving and reviewing the report of the Clerk on any apparent over-contributions by contributors to candidates' and third party advertisers' campaigns.

If an eligible elector in Richmond Hill believes on reasonable grounds that a council candidate or registered third party advertiser has contravened the Municipal Elections Act with respect to municipal campaign finances, the elector may apply to have an audit of the candidate's campaign finances. Council candidates include all candidates who ran for the office of Mayor, Regional and Local Councillor and/or Ward Councillor.

Compliance audit requests related to school board trustee candidates are the responsibility of the Compliance Audit Committees appointed by each school board. To request a compliance audit of a school board candidate or for more information about compliance audits of school board candidates, please contact the school board directly.

The Joint Compliance Audit Committee's term coincides with the term of Council. The Joint Compliance Audit Committee is responsible for compliance audit requests arising out of the last Municipal Elections and any By-elections for Council offices (but not school board trustees) that occur during the ensuing term of Council.

2022 Municipal Elections

Requests for compliance audits of candidates or third party advertisers in the 2022 municipal elections will be accepted in accordance with legislated timelines.

The first day to apply for a compliance audit of a preliminary financial filing is April 3, 2023.

Requests for compliance audits must be received by:

• June 29, 2023, for a candidate or third party advertiser who filed their financial statement by 2 p.m. on March 31, 2023;
• Within 90 days of the date on which a candidate or third party advertiser filed their financial statement if the statement was filed within 30 days of March 31, 2023; or
• December 28, 2023 for a compliance audit of a candidate or third party advertiser who filed a supplementary financial statement (if applicable).

Applicants should be aware that if the Joint Compliance Audit Committee orders a compliance audit and the auditor’s report indicates that there was no apparent contravention by the candidate/third party advertiser audited and the committee finds that there were no reasonable grounds for the request, the council or local board is entitled to recover the auditor’s costs from the applicant.

Application forms will be available from our website and can be submitted to the Office of the City Clerk. For more information about requesting a compliance audit, contact clerks@richmondhill.ca. 

Auditing Process

The Clerk will receive all applications and has 10 days to send the application to the Joint Compliance Audit Committee.

The Committee is required to meet within 30 days of receiving the application from the Clerk and determine if an audit is required or if the application is rejected.

The decision of the Committee respecting the granting or rejecting an audit may be appealed to the Superior Court of Justice within 15 days of the Committee making a decision.

If the Committee grants an audit, an auditor licensed under the Public Accounting Act, 2004 will be appointed to conduct an audit. The Auditor is responsible for conducting an audit to determine if the candidate has complied with the requirements of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 with regard to election campaign finances.

The auditor will submit a report to the Clerk of the City of Richmond Hill, the candidate/third party advertiser, and the applicant.

The Clerk has 10 days to forward the report to the Joint Compliance Audit Committee.

The Committee has 30 days to meet and consider the report from the auditor. The Committee will decide whether to commence legal proceedings against the candidate.

Meetings of the Joint Compliance Audit Committee

Any notices of meetings or decisions of the Joint Compliance Audit Committee for the current term of Council will be posted here.

There are no Joint Compliance Audit Committee meeting materials for the current term of Council to display at this time.

Additional Information

To learn more about the Compliance Audit Committee's Mandate and Rules of Procedure, and for a copy of the Compliance Audit Committee Application, email the Office of the Clerk.

To see general information about campaign finance and to view the financial filings of candidates and third party advertisers, please visit the Municipal Elections Financial Statements page.

Learn about elections in Richmond Hill

• Municipal Elections Act, 1996
• York Region District School Board
• York Catholic District School Board
• Conseil scolaire Viamonde
• Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir