Undue influence by foreigners

(1) No person or entity referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (e) shall, during an election period, unduly influence an elector to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate or registered party, at the election:

(a) an individual who is not a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and who does not reside in Canada;
(b) a corporation or entity incorporated, formed or otherwise organized outside Canada that does not carry on business in Canada or whose primary purpose in Canada during an election period is to influence electors during that period to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate or registered party, at the election;
(c) a trade union that does not hold bargaining rights for employees in Canada;
(d) a foreign political party; or
(e) a foreign government or an agent or mandatary of a foreign government.

Meaning of unduly influencing

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a person or entity unduly influences an elector to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate or registered party, at an election if

(a) they knowingly incur any expense to directly promote or oppose a candidate in that election, a registered party that has endorsed a candidate in that election or the leader of such a registered party;
(b) one of the things done by them to influence the elector is an offence under an Act of Parliament or a regulation made under any such Act, or under an Act of the legislature of a province or a regulation made under any such Act.4

Exceptions

(3) For greater certainty, subsection (1) does not apply if the only thing done by the person or entity to influence the elector to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for the particular candidate or registered party, consists of

(a) an expression of their opinion about the outcome or desired outcome of the election;
(b) a statement by them that encourages the elector to vote or refrain from voting for any candidate or registered party in the election; or
(c) the transmission to the public through broadcasting, or through electronic or print media, of an editorial, a debate, a speech, an interview, a column, a letter, a commentary or news, regardless of the expense incurred in doing so, if no contravention of subsection 330(1) or (2) is involved in the transmission.

Collusion

(4) No person or entity shall act in collusion with a person or entity to whom subsection (1) applies for the purpose of contravening that subsection.

Selling advertising space

(5) No person or entity shall sell any advertising space to a person or entity to whom subsection (1) applies for the purpose of enabling that person or entity to transmit an election advertising message or to cause an election advertising message to be transmitted.