Canada Moves to Ban Crypto Political Donations While Expanding Regulation

TLDR

• Canada’s Bill C-25 passed its second reading in the House of Commons on April 25
• The bill would ban political parties and candidates from accepting crypto donations
• It’s part of a wider election law overhaul targeting foreign interference and transparency
• A similar bill failed to pass in 2024 under Dominic LeBlanc
• Canada is simultaneously building out stablecoin and digital asset regulatory frameworks

Canada is moving closer to banning cryptocurrency donations in political campaigns after Bill C-25, the Strong and Free Elections Act, passed its second reading in the House of Commons.

The bill was first introduced on March 26 by government House leader Steven MacKinnon. It now moves to committee, where lawmakers will study it in detail and can still make changes.

If passed, the law would stop political parties and candidates from accepting crypto contributions. Canadian regulators have flagged crypto donations as a gap in existing campaign finance rules, mainly due to concerns over traceability.

This is not Canada’s first attempt at such a ban. In 2024, a similar proposal was put forward by Dominic LeBlanc but failed to advance through the legislative process.

The concern is not unique to Canada. In the UK, the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy warned in a March 2026 report that digital assets “present an avoidable risk” to political finance systems. The committee said crypto can make it harder to trace where money comes from, and recommended a temporary ban pending clearer rules.

Canada has not proposed a temporary ban. Instead, it has written crypto restrictions into a full overhaul of its election laws.

Why Crypto Donations Are a Concern

Lawmakers backing the bill say cryptocurrency transactions are harder to trace than traditional donations. This raises the risk that foreign actors could funnel money into domestic politics without detection.

Bill C-25 addresses this by including crypto in its broader restrictions on political financing, alongside measures to improve enforcement and limit foreign interference.

No date has been set for when the committee will take up the bill.

Canada’s Wider Crypto Regulation Push

At the same time Canada is restricting crypto in elections, it is expanding its oversight of digital assets in financial markets.

Regulators have been building out frameworks for stablecoins that would place them under supervision of the Bank of Canada. Standards for crypto investment funds, custodians, and cold storage are also being refined.

These moves are happening under Prime Minister Mark Carney, a former central banker who has expressed skepticism about crypto in the past.

Despite that skepticism, Canadian policymakers are working to bring digital assets into regulated financial infrastructure, while drawing a clear line at their use in political funding.

Bill C-25 has no fixed timeline for committee review.

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