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OTTAWA — Canadians can expect an onslaught of political advertising this fall as parties compete for their attention — and votes — by loading their television screens and social media feeds with promises and partisan attacks.

Government advertising, meanwhile, will remain at a mandatory standstill until after the votes are counted as the result of a newly-imposed spending moratorium on public awareness campaigns in the months leading up to the election.

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That meant the federal government had until June 30 to get any ad buys out of the way, and newly released figures show it allocated nearly $17.7 million to the cause in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019-20.

The money set aside through the first three months of the federal fiscal year marks an increase of nearly 21 per cent compared to the same stretch in 2018 to pay for various government advertising campaigns. That followed a three-month stretch — the last quarter of the 2018-2019 fiscal year — when the government didn’t allocate any money for advertisements.