Candidates hoping to become the next leader of the federal Conservatives have until the end of the day Tuesday to submit their application paperwork—although it will likely take several more days before the party confirms the full list of candidates who met the deadline.
Tuesday’s deadline requires applicants to submit a series of documents, including a leadership questionnaire, and a $50,000 registration fee.
Hours before the deadline, eight candidates had been formally approved by the party: Scott Aitchison, Leona Alleslev, Roman Baber, Patrick Brown, Jean Charest, Marc Dalton, Leslyn Lewis and Pierre Poilievre.
Conservative officials say the field could grow as more applications are received and reviewed by the committee managing the contest.
“We anticipate there will be packages received that will need to be evaluated for completeness,” said Conservative executive director Wayne Benson in an email.
Benson said the party will not confirm any new official candidates until it has completed that review process.
Candidates approved by the party face another deadline on April 29, when they’ll be required to submit their final payments and documentation to appear on the ballot. Those requirements include registration and compliance fees totaling $300,000 and the signatures of 500 party members.
The Conservatives’ leadership website indicates that Charest, Lewis and Poilievre have fulfilled those obligations.
At least three other potential candidates not listed by the party—businesspeople Joseph Bourgault and Bobby Singh and former Conservative candidate Joel Etienne—have expressed interest in entering the race.
The Conservatives will name their third permanent leader of the past five years at a convention on Sept. ten.