Here’s what the federal party leaders have spent on Facebook ads

Canadians are well used to the sudden blitz of political campaign ads each election cycle brings.

However, what’s new for the 2019 federal election is the ability for Canadians to see just how much each party and its candidates spend on those social media ads.

This past spring, the "Elections Modernization Act" was passed by the federal government, which mandated companies like Facebook to disclose how much is spent on political advertising by pages on their platform.

Facebook has since created the Ad Library Report that allows users to search how much each party or candidate has shelled out to promote their official Facebook pages over the past day, week, month and 90-day span.

How the parties have spent their funds differ greatly, with Justin Trudeau spending more as a single candidate than his entire party.

In contrast, the Conservative Party of Canada has outspent the Liberal Party by more than $200,000, however, party leader Andrew Scheer has only spent $66,610 on ads for his specific Facebook page.

Between June and Oct. 16, here's what each federal party page has spent on Facebook ads:

• Liberal Party of Canada: $613,580
• Conservative Party of Canada: $830,603
• Canada's NDP: $226,472
• Green Party: $29,708
• People's Party of Canada: $17,739
• Bloc Québécois: $22,288

Between June and Oct. 16, here's what page representing federal party leaders has spent on Facebook ads:

• Justin Trudeau: $691,677
• Andrew Scheer: $66,610
• Jagmeet Singh: $10,978
• Elizabeth May: $0
• Maxime Bernier: $0
• Yves-François Blanchet: $735

The number of "likes" a federal party leader's official Facebook page has appeared to play a role in how much spending is put towards ads on the platform.

Justin Trudeau has the largest audience by far with 6.8-million likes on his page, which has also spent far more than any other leader's page on ads.

Meanwhile, Andrew Scheer's official Facebook page has 295,892 likes and has spent $66,610.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May's page has 108,846 likes and Maxime Bernier's page touts 76,586 likes with neither party leader having spent a dime to promote their official pages.

Mark it on your calendar, the federal election which will be held next Monday, Oct. 21.