Quebec Liberals held a general council meeting in Laval Sunday to set the rules for the upcoming leadership campaign.

According to the rules submitted by the party’s executive committee, each of the candidates will have to come up with a security deposit of $50,000, and they can't spend more than $600,000 on their campaigns.

To enter, they would have to gather signatures from 500 party members, representing at least 50 ridings and 10 of Quebec's regions.

The candidates would have to debate each other five times during the campaign.

Prospective candidates would have until Dec. 14 to submit their candidacies.

So far, there are four declared candidates, Philippe Couillard, Pierre Moreau and Raymond Bachand, all former ministers, and Jean David, a former president of the party's political committee.

The new leader will be chosen next March 16.