A Guide to Registration

Lobbyists Registration Act

Introduction

Purpose of this guide

This guide has been developed to provide general information on the Lobbyists Registration Act, taking into account the amendments which came into force on June 20, 2005. It provides information on when and how to register.

Individuals who are paid to communicate with federal public office holders - i.e. to lobby - are subject to the disclosure requirements established by the Lobbyists Registration Act.

We have endeavored to answer as many questions as possible pertaining to the Lobbyists Registration Act and Regulations, but it should be noted that the guide is not a legal document. For additional information, refer to the Acts, Regulations and Other Documents section of this Web site.

Purpose of the Lobbyists Registration Act (Act)

The Lobbyists Registration Act was enacted in 1988 and was amended in 1995. The latest amendments to the Act came into force in June of 2005. The amended Act strengthens the enforcement provisions by clarifying what constitutes lobbying for which a registration is required. With the removal of the expression "in an attempt to influence", emphasis is placed on "communications" with public office holders in respect of the development of any legislative proposal, the introduction of a Bill or resolution, amendments to regulations, the development or amendment of a policy or program, the awarding of a grant, contribution, tax credit or other financial benefit and, in the specific case of consultant lobbyists, the awarding of a government contract. Communications which are restricted to a request for information which is purely administrative in nature will not require registration. The amended Act also eliminates the exemption for government initiated communications. Finally, the amendments create a single registration system covering lobbyists employed by businesses and lobbyists employed by not-for-profit organizations.

Four basic principles are set out in the preamble to the Act:

• Free and open access to government is an important matter of public interest.
• Lobbying public office holders is a legitimate activity.
• It is desirable that public office holders and the public be able to know who is attempting to influence government.
• The system for the registration of paid lobbyists should not impede free and open access to government.

Public Registry

All information collected under the Lobbyists Registration Act and the Lobbyists Registration Regulations is a matter of public record. The objective of the Public Registry is to ensure that the general public and public office holders know who is communicating with the government.
Information submitted in registration forms is accessible to all Canadians by writing, telephoning or visiting the Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists, or via the Internet through the on-line Lobbyists Registration System.

Public Office Holders

Lobbying involves individuals who are paid to communicate with public office holders. A public office holder is defined broadly as "any officer or employee of Her Majesty in right of Canada." This includes:

• Members of the Senate or of the House of Commons (Senators, Members of Parliament, Ministers) and their staff;
• Persons appointed to an office by a Minister of the Crown or the Governor in Council;
• An officer director or employee of any federal board, commission or other tribunal;
• Members of the Canadian Armed Forces;
• Members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; and
• Employees of federal departments.

Who does not need to register?

The Act excludes the following public officials from registration as lobbyists when they are acting in their official capacity:

• Members of the legislature of a province or territory or their staff;
• Employees of provincial and territorial governments;
• Members of local or municipal governments or their staff;
• Employees of local or municipal governments;
• Members of the council of a band as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Indian Act or of the council of an Indian band established by an Act of Parliament, or their staff;
• Diplomatic agents, consular officers, or official representatives in Canada of foreign governments; and
• Officials of a specialized agency of the United Nations or officials of any other international organization granted privileges and immunities by Parliament.

If any of the above public officials or their organizations hire third-party consultants to lobby; these consultant lobbyists would be subject to the registration requirements.

Who must register?

Registration requirements for the three categories of lobbyists:

• Consultant lobbyists. These are individuals who, for payment, lobby for clients. They must complete and file a consultant lobbyists registration when they begin lobbying for a client and when information previously submitted changes. Consultant lobbyists must file semi-annually unless they have advised the Registrar of the completion or termination of their undertaking prior to the expiry of the period within which the semi-annual filing is due.
• In-house corporate lobbyists. These are corporations (entities who carry out commercial activities for financial gain) in which one or more employees lobby, and the collective time devoted to lobbying amounts to 20% or more of one equivalent employee's time. The most senior officer of the corporation must complete and file an in-house corporate lobbyists registration when the corporation begins to lobby and semi-annually thereafter.
• In-house organization lobbyists. These are not-for-profit organizations in which one or more employees lobby, and the collective time devoted to lobbying amounts to 20% or more of one equivalent employee's time. The most senior officer of the organization must complete and file an in-house organization lobbyists registration when the organization begins to lobby and semi-annually thereafter.

More detailed information on the registration requirements for the three categories of lobbyists is provided in the next three sections.

Consultant Lobbyists Registration Requirements

(Section 5 of the Act)

Consultants or professional lobbyists are individuals who, for payment and on behalf of a client, communicate with public office holders. Consultant lobbyists may include government relations consultants, lawyers, notaries, engineers, accountants or other professional advisors who provide lobbying services for their clients.

They are required to register when they arrange a meeting between their client and a federal public office holder. They are also required to register for each undertaking for a client when they lobby for:

• The making, developing or amending of legislative proposals, bills or resolutions, regulations, policies or programs;
• The awarding of grants, contributions, tax credits or other financial benefits; and
• The awarding of contracts.

The "client" is the individual, organization or corporation on whose behalf the consultant undertakes the lobbying activities and who would be the true beneficiary of the lobbying.

An "undertaking" is defined by the agreement or contract, written or verbal, between the client and the lobbyist and not by the government activities about which the lobbyist seeks to communicate. The scope of these agreements or contracts may be very broad and require lobbying on several activities or may be very narrowly focused on only one activity. They may describe precisely the nature of the lobbying activities or only imply them. What is important is the existence of a relationship within which the activities will eventually take place. Also, undertakings may be concurrent or sequential. New or amended agreements or contracts with substantially different subject matters signify new undertakings. In such a case, separate registrations are required.

A consultant lobbyist must complete and file a consultant lobbyists registration with the Registrar within 10 days of entering into an undertaking on behalf of a client. Changes to any information previously submitted must be reported within 30 days in accordance with the requirements for consultant lobbyists registrations. Thereafter, a return will need to be filed for each undertaking no later than 30 days after the expiry of every six months from the date of the initial filing or amendment of the undertaking.

There is no need to file a return at the expiry of every six months when the Registrar has already been advised of the completion or termination of the undertaking in accordance with the requirements for the registration of consultant lobbyists.

A firm may assign several consultants to work on the same undertaking for the same client. In such a case, much of the information in one registration form may be common to the forms of all consultants. However, each consultant lobbyist is individually responsible for compliance with the Act, and must certify the information in his or her registration form.

The following information must be disclosed for each lobbying undertaking:

• Name, position title and business address of the lobbyist;
• Name and business address of the lobbying firm;
• Client name and business address;
• Name of the principal representative of the client;
• Name and business address of any person or organization that controls or directs the client's activities;
• If the client is a corporation, the name and business address of the parent corporation and those subsidiaries which directly benefit from the lobbying;
• If the client is a coalition, the names and business addresses of the corporate and organizational members;
• If the individual is a former public office holder, a description of the offices held;
• Subject matters including the specific legislative proposal, bill or resolution, regulation, policy, program, grant, contribution, other financial benefit or contract sought;
• Name of each department or other governmental institution lobbied;
• Source and amount of any government funding provided to the client; and
• Whether payment is contingent on the success of the lobbying; and communication techniques used, including grass-roots lobbying.

In-house lobbyists (corporation)
Registration requirements

(Section 7 of the Act)

Registration forms for in-house lobbyists (corporation) must be completed and filed by the most senior officer of the corporation when one or more employees communicate with public office holders - i.e. lobby - and where the accumulated activity of all such employees would constitute a significant part (20% or more) of the duties of one equivalent employee. For the purpose of estimating the proportion of the employee's duties devoted to lobbying, one can use the time spent on each part of the duties as an indicator to estimate the time spent communicating and preparing for communicating with public office holders.over a period of six months. If, over the course of those six months, the 20 % threshold is met or exceeded over any one-month period, then registration becomes necessary.

Lobbyist registration is required with respect to the following matters:

• The making, developing or amending of legislative proposals, bills or resolutions, regulations, policies, programs; or
• The awarding of grants, contributions, tax credits or other financial benefits.

In-house corporate lobbyists are usually full-time employees and officers of the company. Their primary function is usually public affairs or government relations work, even though such distinctions may not be reflected in the individual's title. Their duties would include communications with federal public office holders, whether formal or informal. When the accumulated lobbying duties by all paid employees would constitute 20% of those of one equivalent employee over a period of six months, or if this threshold is reached during at least one of those months, the officer responsible for filing returns must file a registration in which those employees would be listed. The officer responsible is usually the employee who holds the most senior office in the corporation.

It is the responsibility of the most senior officer of the corporation to complete and file an in-house lobbyists corporation registration within two months after one or more employees commence lobbying on behalf of the corporation. A renewal must be filed with the Registrar every six months thereafter. Updates must also be filed within 30 days when employees modify or cease their lobbying activities, or cease employment with the corporation.

The following information must be disclosed:

• Name and position title of the officer responsible for filing returns;
• Name and business address of the corporation;
• Name and business address of the parent corporation and those subsidiaries that directly benefit from the lobbying;
• Names of the senior officers (chief executive officer, chief operating officer or president; and any other officer who reports directly to one of them) who communicate at any time with public office holders;
• Names of other employees of the corporation who lobby as a significant part of their duties (20% or more over a six-month period, or if there is a peak reaching or exceeding the 20% threshold during any of those six months);
• A general description of the corporation's business or activities;
• If any employee or senior officer named in the return is a former public office holder, a description of the offices held with the federal government;
• Subject matters including the specific legislative proposals, bills or resolutions, regulations, policies, programs, grants, contributions, tax credits or other financial benefits sought;
• Name of each department or other governmental institution lobbied;
• Source and amount of any government funding received by the corporation; and
• Communication techniques used, including grass-roots lobbying.

In-house lobbyists (organization)
Registration requirements

(Section 7 of the Act)

A registration for in-house lobbyists (corporation and organization) must be completed and filed by the officer responsible for filing returns on behalf of the organization when one or more employees communicate with public office holders - i.e. lobby - and where the accumulated activities of all such employees would constitute a significant part of the duties (20% or more) of only one equivalent employee. For the purpose of estimating the proportion of the employee's duties devoted to lobbying, one can use the time spent on each part of the duties as an indicator to estimate the time spent communicating and preparing for communicating with public office holders.over a period of six months. If, over the course of those six months, the 20 % threshold is met or exceeded over any one-month period, then registration becomes necessary.

Lobbyist registration is required with respect to the following matters:

• The making, developing or amending of legislative proposals, bills or resolutions, regulations, policies, programs; or
• The awarding of grants, contributions, tax credits or other financial benefits.

Many organizations have paid employees who work on government relations, public affairs or specific policy areas or issues. These employees may communicate, even though infrequently, with elected or appointed federal public office holders. When the accumulated lobbying duties by all paid employees would constitute 20% or more of the duties of one equivalent employee over a six-month period, or if this threshold is reached during any month in that period, the officer responsible for filing returns must file a registration in which those employees would be listed.

It is the responsibility of the officer responsible for filing returns on behalf of the organization to complete and file an in-house lobbyists organization registration within two months after one or more employees commence lobbying on behalf of the organization. A new registration must be filed with the Registrar every six months thereafter. An amendment must also be filed within 30 days when employees modify or ease their lobbying activities or cease employment with the organization.

The following information must be disclosed:

• Name and position title of the senior officer;
• Name and business address of the organization;
• Names of employees who lobby including, as applicable, the senior officer;
• General description of the organization's business or activities;
• General description of the organization's membership;
• If any employee named in the return is a former public office holder, a description of the offices held with the federal government;
• Subject matters including the specific legislative proposals, bills or resolutions, regulations, policies, programs, grants or contributions or other financial benefits sought;
• Name of each department or other governmental institution lobbied;
• Source and amount of any government funding received by the organization; and
• Communication techniques used, including grass-roots lobbying.

What Activities: Do Not Require Registration?

Registration is not required for:

• Oral or written submissions to parliamentary committees where there is a public record;
• Oral or written submissions made to any person or body which has jurisdiction or powers under a federal statute, in proceedings that are a matter of public record;
• Oral or written communications made to a public office holder with respect to the enforcement, interpretation or application of any existing federal statute or regulation by that official (for example, routine dealings with government inspectors and other regulatory authorities; other law enforcement officers; licensing authorities; taxation, legal, and customs officials); or
• Oral or written communication made to a public office holder if the communication is restricted to a simple request for information.

How Are the Registration Requirements Enforced?

It is the responsibility of lobbyists to comply with the Act.

Ongoing education and communications programs are intended to help facilitate compliance with the Act. The Registrar may also issue advisory opinions and interpretation bulletins to help lobbyists understand the Act's registration provisions.

The Act provides for substantial penalties for lobbyists if they fail to register, or make false or misleading statements in their registration forms. If, during the course of an investigation, the Registrar believes on reasonable grounds that a person has committed an offence under the Act or any other Act of Parliament or of the legislature of a province, the Registrar may advise a peace officer having jurisdiction to investigate the alleged offence. Section 14 of the Act states that such contraventions may carry fines of up to $25,000 or jail terms of up to two years upon summary conviction. The legislation sets a two-year limitation period from the date of the alleged offence for enforcement proceedings, after which no charges can be laid.

The Registrar (and his/her delegates) has the authority to request clarification or verification of any information submitted by lobbyists. Under the Act, lobbyists are obligated to respond to these requests in a timely fashion.