Ottawa voters heading into October's municipal election may find it harder than ever to tell what's real in campaign advertising, and that's because there are currently no rules governing how candidates use artificial intelligence to make it.
Across Ontario, candidates are now being certified to run for municipal offices in October, and experts say the province has yet to catch up with the technology. There's nothing on the books that specifically addresses AI generated images, video, audio, or text in political ads, whether at the municipal level here in Ottawa or elsewhere in the province.
What that means for Ottawa's ballot
For Ottawa residents, that gap matters. City council races, along with school board trustee contests, will be decided this fall, and campaign advertising, on lawn signs, social media, and local mailers, shapes how people vote. Without clear guardrails, a candidate running for Ottawa city council could theoretically use an AI-generated image or video to bolster their message, and there's no municipal or provincial rule stopping them.
Experts who spoke to CBC point out that this isn't a hypothetical problem. AI tools have become cheap and easy to use, meaning any candidate or their campaign team, well-funded or not, can generate polished visuals or scripted-sounding endorsements without ever needing a professional studio. That lowers the barrier to producing misleading content, whether intentionally deceptive or just sloppy and inaccurate.
Why the rules haven't caught up
Municipal election rules in Ontario are set out in the Municipal Elections Act, and updates to that legislation tend to move slowly. Provincial and federal elections have started to see more scrutiny over AI-generated content in political messaging, but municipal races, including Ottawa's, have largely been left out of that conversation so far.
That leaves it up to individual candidates and campaigns to decide where their own ethical lines are. Ottawa's Returning Officer and Elections Ontario oversee the mechanics of voting and candidate certification, but neither currently has a specific mandate to police AI-generated advertising content.
What Ottawa voters can do
With no formal rules in place, media literacy becomes the main line of defence for Ottawa residents scrolling through campaign ads this fall. Voters are encouraged to look closely at where an ad or endorsement is coming from, whether an image or video seems oddly polished or inconsistent, and to check candidate claims against official sources like the City of Ottawa's election page rather than taking social media content at face value.
As candidates across Ottawa and the rest of Ontario continue getting certified ahead of October's vote, the conversation around AI and political advertising is likely to keep growing, especially if any local campaign ends up testing just how far the rules, or lack of them, can be stretched.
Source: CBC Ottawa
