OTTAWA - Justin Trudeau's Liberal party spent just over $43 million to win last fall's federal election -- $1.2 million more than Stephen Harper's Conservatives.

That the third party outspent the governing party -- which changed election rules and called an extended campaign in an apparent bid to give the deep-pocketed Conservatives a financial edge over its competitors -- surprised even Liberals.

But Liberals say they believe it's how the two main parties spent their money, not how much, that made the difference between winning and losing.

The Liberals spent more than four times as much as the Tories on digital advertising and digital voter contact.

But they spent less than one-fifth of what the Conservatives spent on voter contact calling services -- a tool the Tories used to great effect in previous campaigns but which Liberal strategists say is now an "archaic" and ineffective way of reaching voters.

The eye-popping spending by the various parties during the marathon 78-day campaign is disclosed in campaign financial reports filed with Elections Canada.