Compliance Audit Committee

A joint Municipal Elections Compliance Audit Committee (MECAC) has been established by the Region of Waterloo, Cities of Cambridge, Guelph, Kitchener and Waterloo and Townships of North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich. When an application for a compliance audit is received, a meeting is held in the applicable municipality.

The City of Guelph and the area municipalities from the Region of Waterloo are working together to establish a joint Municipal Elections Compliance Audit Committee (MECAC).

The MECAC will review candidate or registered third-party 2026 election campaign finances. When an application is made to the MECAC, the municipality will strike a committee and invite members from a pool of accepted applicants to participate in the review of the relevant campaign finances.

Submitting an application for a compliance audit of a candidate's election campaign finances:

Must be done by an elector who is entitled to vote in an election
Reasonable grounds that a candidate has contravened a provision of the Municipal Elections Act
Must be for a candidate in the municipal election within the applicable Municipality
Financial Statements must be filed prior to the submission of an application
Applications concerning election campaign finances for candidates in an area municipality need to be made to the appropriate Municipal Clerk
applications for one of the Regional Council seats are made to the Regional Clerk in writing and set out the reasons for the application.

The application must be made within 90 days after the submission of:

the candidate's financial statement and auditor's report reflecting the candidate's election finances
the candidate's supplementary filing date, if any
the filing date for the final financial statement, or
the date on which the candidate's extension, if any, expires

What happens after I submit an application to the Region?

Within 10 days of receiving the application, the Regional Clerk forwards the application to the Municipal Elections Compliance Audit Committee (MECAC).
Within 30 days of receiving the application, the MECAC reviews it and decides whether it should be granted or rejected.
The decision of the MECAC may be appealed to the Superior Court of Justice within 15 days of the decision and the Court may make any decision the MECAC could have made.
If the MECAC decides to grant the application, an auditor -- who is licensed under the Public Accounting Act, 2004 or prescribed persons -- is appointed to conduct a compliance audit of the candidate's election campaign finances.
The auditor will conduct an audit of the candidate's election campaign finances and will prepare a report outlining any apparent contravention by the candidate. The report is provided to the candidate, the applicant and the Regional Clerk.
Within 10 days of receiving the report, the Regional Clerk forwards the report to the MECAC. The committee considers the report within 30 days and may commence any legal proceeding against the candidate for any apparent contravention.

For additional information on compliance audits, please see section 88 of the Municipal Elections Act

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