Lobbying Commissioner reveals record number of active lobbying registrations and active lobbyists in 2021-22 annual report

News release

June 14, 2022 – Ottawa, ON

Another year of record lobbying activities for active registrations and active lobbyists has been recorded. In her 2021-22 annual report, Commissioner Bélanger revealed that March 2022 saw all time highs set for both active registrations (5,059) and active lobbyists (6,731) in a single month.

Throughout 2021-22, over 8,000 individual lobbyists were registered to lobby on behalf of more than 3,300 organizations or corporations, either as in-house lobbyists or as consultants. Over 24,500 communications with high-ranking decision makers were reported in the Registry of Lobbyists, second only to the previous fiscal year.

The Office also continued its efforts to strengthen Canada’s lobbying regime by holding a second round of consultation to renew the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct. From Dec. 2021 to Feb. 2022, stakeholders were invited to submit comments on a draft version of a renewed code. Following careful review of the input received, a second draft was shared and a third and final consultation was launched in May 2022 and will close on June 22, 2022.

With its very small budget and team of 33 employees, the Office continued to deliver on its mandate of ensuring transparent and ethical lobbying at the federal level. It improved the Registry of Lobbyists by streamlining the user interface, upgrading the search function, and adding an auto-complete feature to help reduce errors in the names of designated public office holders. The Office leveraged virtual presentations to reach more stakeholders and increased its international presence. It also focused on mental health and diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

In her appearance before the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, Commissioner Bélanger signaled that she would be preparing a request for a future budget increase. With the exception of a modest increase received in Budget 2021 to support the maintenance and enhancement of the Registry, the budget of the office has remained largely the same since the creation of the OCL in 2008.

Read the report:

• 2021-22 Annual Report

Quotes

We’ve seen record numbers of communications with federal officials since the beginning of the pandemic. Despite the usual drop in communication reports typically associated with an election period, 2021-22 had the second highest number of reportable communications.

As in-person meetings resume and virtual meetings continue to take place, it will be interesting to see if there will be a drop in reportable communications. Virtual communications are oral and arranged, they must be reported. The speed at which they can be organized and the flexibility in scheduling they provide has likely contributed to the record number of communication reports we have seen since the start of the pandemic.

In renewing the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct, the aim is to strike the right balance between the need for clear ethical rules when lobbying federal officials and the need for some degree of flexibility.

Ultimately, the rules will be clear, easier to understand and easier to enforce.

Highlights from 2021-22

• 8,069 active lobbyists were listed in registrations in the Registry of Lobbyists in 2021-22
• 3,376 organizations and corporations were named in registrations
• 24,538 monthly communication reports (MCRs) were filed, the second busiest year recorded
• The top 5 subject matters listed in communication reports were:
  1. Health
  2. Environment
  3. Economic development
  4. Industry
  5. Agriculture
• The top 5 government institutions listed in communication reports were:
  1. House of Commons
  2. Innovation, Science and Economic Development
  3. Environment and Climate Change
  4. Finance
  5. Global Affairs
• 1 file referred to the RCMP in 2021-22
• 1 investigation report (Aldridge/MCAP) was tabled in Parliament in 2021-22.
• 4,914 calls and emails from stakeholders, all of which were answered within service standards
• 1 consultation on a draft Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct — over 50 submissions received to date throughout the consultation process
• 83 presentations to various stakeholders, reaching 1,327 stakeholders – a 42% increase over the previous year

Related information

• Registry of Lobbyists
• Consultation on future changes to the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct
• Appearances before Parliamentary Committees

Contacts

For media enquiries, please contact:

Telephone: 613-952-4306
Email: media@lobbycanada.gc.ca

For general enquiries, please contact:

Telephone: 613-957-2760
Email: info@lobbycanada.gc.ca