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OTTAWA — Newly released figures show the federal Conservatives entered this election year having outpaced the Liberals in fundraising by more than $8.3 million in 2018.

The Conservatives raised about $24.2 million from 104,000 donors in 2018, more than the $15.9 million the Liberals raised from 66,000 people.

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The Greens raised $3.1 million last year.

Parties are required to provide their annual returns to Elections Canada by the end of June unless they receive an extension, as the New Democrats did this year.

The figures provide a window on the financial health of the parties as they ramped up fundraising efforts ahead of this fall’s federal election, when donations tend to jump as supporters rush to fill campaign war chests.

A Liberal party spokesman said the second half of 2018 saw the party’s best-ever fundraising for the final six months of a non-election year. He said the Liberals were “the only major party to see consistent growth from one quarter to the next throughout the year.”