UPDATE: Ontario Liberal Leadership Race Fundraising Totals

To help members weigh their options, we’ll be tracking the Ontario Liberal leadership candidates’ fundraising totals as reported by Elections Ontario.

When it comes to political candidates, fundraising can reveal a lot. It can give those investigating the data a sense of how widely a candidate is supported, which big names are backing them, how well they attract high-dollar donations, and how well they connect with small-dollar donors.

When a candidate is running for leader of a political party, fundraising totals also tell party voters whether that candidate has momentum in the race and whether they can become a fundraising powerhouse as leader. The latter is especially important for parties that find themselves on the opposition benches without the allure of governing power to attract donors to their cause.

---

Totals as of Friday, June 19

Source Note: You can access and track the OLP leadership fundraising data yourself through Elections Ontario’s Political Parties and Leadership Contestants Real-Time Disclosure (RTD) of Contributions table.

Data Note: Elections Ontario excludes aggregated donations below $200, has a 15-day reporting delay from candidates, and a 2-day posting delay to the website.

#1 Navdeep Bains:

Began collecting donations on May 25, 2026

• $297,677 raised from 181 donations

• 49 maximum donations totalling $167,825

• $1,645 average donation

# 2 Lee Fairclough:

Began collecting donations on May 8, 2026

• $184,594 raised from 138 donations

• 25 maximum donations totalling $85,625

• $1,338 average donation

#3 Dylan Marando:

Began collecting donations on April 22, 2026

• $122,344 raised from 125 donations

• 12 maximum donations totalling $41,100

• $979 average donation

#4 Rob Cerjanec:

Began collecting donations on May 28, 2026

• $58,770 raised from 77 donations

• 5 maximum donations totalling $17,125

• $763 average donation

#5 Eric Lombardi:

Donation records have not been posted to Elections Ontario

---

What It Means

The Frontrunner

The most obvious takeaway is that Nav Bains is well in the lead, with more than double the donation totals of two of his opponents and over $100,000 ahead of his next closest opponent. Bains has also attracted twice as many maximum donations of $3,425. And his numbers are outpacing what Bonnie Crombie achieved at this point in the race back in 2023. She was never caught by the other candidates, and it created a significant resource advantage heading into the vote.

Rebounding Fortunes

Speaking of 2023, the current race is pulling in more dollars than the last OLP leadership race did at the same point in the process. Like back then, we are now two months into the race, with four of the five candidates having submitted their donor data. In 2023, the four candidates who had filed had collectively raised $583,089 from 504 donations. In 2026, that number is $663,385 from 521 donations to four candidates.

Average Donations and Average Voters

In terms of the dollars-to-donors ratio, I prefer a lower number that helps demonstrate broader grassroots support. That doesn’t mean max donations are bad. They are necessary to help fund winning campaigns. But when the average remains stubbornly high, it can suggest the candidate is connecting with a specific economic class of supporters. A lower average donation, at least in my view, signals an ability to connect with voters from all walks of life. Ideally, a candidate’s average donation is below $1,000.

Surprise Strengths and Weaknesses

I’m also surprised by the totals raised by both Marando and Cerjanec. To be fair, Marando has been out in the field the longest when it comes to fundraising - a full month longer than Cerjanec. Time will tell if Marando can sustain his fundraising momentum. Most of a candidate’s donations come in near the beginning when excitement is highest. The strongest candidates are able to keep bringing in the money throughout the race.

Cerjanec entered the race less than a month ago, and after every candidate who has reported their numbers. However, he is noticeably far behind the other candidates. If Cerjanec can’t quickly ramp up his fundraising, he risks failing to become the clear alternative to the frontrunner, which is something that derailed the 2023 campaign of fourth-place fundraising finisher and third-place race finisher Yasir Naqvi.

The Unknown

We have no information on how much money Lombardi has raised, beyond his campaign's claim that it has raised over $100,000. We also don’t know who is donating to that campaign or how much they have contributed. That’s not to suggest there is anything nefarious lurking in his unreleased donor data. It’s just to state that we will know much more about his campaign once it’s released. The question for his team is whether they waited too long to get started while watching the other candidates hit the ground running.

Going Forward

We’ll be providing periodic updates on how the candidates are doing in fundraising. With the membership deadline still months away, fundraising will be one of the few metrics we can track to gauge how the race is going. Stay tuned!

---

Support Progress Canada

Progress Canada is audience-supported by people like you who care about carving out a space for progressive political analysis in Canada. Here are two quick ways you can help us keep delivering these conversations.

Subscribe to our Substack:

Get notified about new episodes and deep-dive articles delivered in-app or directly to your inbox so you never miss an update.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel:

Watch our full episodes, catch exclusive video clips, and drop your takes in the comments to help drive the algorithm.