The Ontario NDP plans to have a new leader by the first week of March 2023.
That is when party faithful will vote on a replacement for the outgoing Andrea Horwath.
Prospective candidates will have until early December to register at a cost of $55 thousand.
The NDP provincial council says that is far lower than the fees paid to be a candidate in the Liberal or PC leadership races.
Candidates will have to pay $5,000 upon registering and the remaining $50 thousand in installments.
They will also need signatures of one hundred NDP members, with twenty required to come from at least four of the six geographic regions of the province.
At least 25 per cent of the signatures must be from equity-seeking members, including Black, Indigenous and racialized members.
The council is also putting a spending limit on campaigns of $900 thousand.
Ranked balloting will be used, with multiple rounds of voting possible until a candidate reaches the 50 per cent plus one majority.
The election will be one-member-one-vote weighted to 75 per cent. Votes from affiliate organizations will be weighted to 25 per cent.
Each affiliated organization is entitled to a number of votes based on the number of its members — two votes for the first 100 members and one additional vote for each additional 300 members.
The party will host two leadership debates and two meet-and-greet events with the leadership hopefuls.
A single showcase event will be held before voting begins.
The party will host one showcase event for the candidates before the voting period opens.
Peter Tabuns will remain as interim leader until a new leader is selected.
Andrea Horwath stepped down as leader following June’s provincial election.
