Frequently asked questions

1. What is lobbying?

Lobbying is communicating, with public office holders, for payment with regard to:

• the making, developing or amending of federal legislative proposals, bills or resolutions, regulations, policies or programs;
• the awarding of federal grants, contributions or other financial benefits; and
• the awarding of a federal government contract (for consultant lobbyists only).

In the case of consultant lobbyists, the Lobbying Act also defines lobbying as arranging a meeting between a public office holder and any other person.

2. What activities are NOT considered lobbying?

The following activities are exempt from the Lobbying Act and are therefore not considered lobbying:

• Oral or written submissions to parliamentary committees.
• Oral or written communications to a public office holder concerning the enforcement, interpretation or the application of any Act of Parliament or regulation.
• Oral or written communications made to a public office holder that are restricted to requests for information.

3. Who are lobbyists?

There are two types of lobbyists:

1. Consultant lobbyists are self-employed or work for firms active in the fields of government relations, law or strategic advice. They are paid to communicate with public office holders on behalf of their clients. They may communicate with public office holders regarding registrable subject matter on behalf of their clients or they may simply arrange meetings between public office holders and their clients. Consultant lobbyists are required to register each of their lobbying undertakings.
2. In-house lobbyists communicate with public office holders on behalf of the corporation or the organization that employs them. Registration is required when one or more of the employees communicate with public office holders about registrable topics and those duties collectively constitute a significant part of the duties of one employee.

4. Who are public office holders under the Lobbying Act?

A federal public office holder is any officer or employee of Her Majesty in right of Canada, whether elected or appointed. This broad category includes members of the Senate and the House of Commons, and parliamentary staff, members of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and federal government employees.

5. Who are designated public office holders under the Lobbying Act?

The sub-category of designated public office holders (DPOH) includes Ministers, Ministers of State, ministerial staff, senior public officials such as Deputy Ministers, and Associate and Assistant Deputy Ministers (including those of comparable rank), as well as the following prescribed positions:

• Members of the House of Commons
• Member of the Senate
• Any position on the staff of the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons or on the staff of the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, that is occupied by a person appointed pursuant to subsection 128(1) of the Public Service Employment Act
• Identified members of a Prime Minister’s transition team
• Chief of the Defence Staff
• Vice Chief of the Defence Staff
• Chief of Maritime Staff
• Chief of Land Staff
• Chief of Air Staff
• Chief of Military Personnel
• Judge Advocate General
• Any position of Senior Advisor to the Privy Council to which the office holder is appointed by the Governor in Council
• Deputy Minister (Intergovernmental Affairs) Privy Council Office
• Comptroller General of Canada, and
• Any position to which the office holder is appointed pursuant to paragraph 127.1(1)(a) or (b) of the Public Service Employment Act

The Commissioner has established criteria to determine if a particular POH position is of comparable rank to that of associate or assistant deputy minister.

If an individual is acting in a DPOH position for more than four consecutive months, the individual will be designated a DPOH.

6. When members of boards of directors are involved in lobbying activities, are they considered "in-house lobbyists" or "consultant lobbyists"?

If the chairperson or member of a board of directors is not an employee of the corporation or organization and receives remuneration beyond reimbursement of expenses, they must register as a consultant lobbyist. Consultant lobbyists are also required to disclose whether they are lobbying as a member of a client's board of directors or on behalf of an organization of which they are a member.

If the chairperson or member of a board of directors is also an employee of the corporation or organization, they may have to be registered as an in-house lobbyist.

7. What are the rules respecting contingency fees?

Consultant lobbyists are not allowed to receive payments that are contingent on the success of their lobbying efforts. It is similarly forbidden that clients of consultant lobbyists make a payment conditional on the successful outcome of the lobbyist's activity. As part of the registration process, lobbyists are required to confirm that they will not be receiving a contingency fee for the undertaking.

8. Who is prohibited from lobbying?

The Lobbying Act includes a five-year prohibition on lobbying for former designated public office holders. Unless an individual has been granted an exemption by the Commissioner, this prohibition applies in the following situations:

• Individuals may not act as a consultant lobbyist for a period of five years after they cease to be a DPOH.
• Individuals who are employed by an organization may not lobby on behalf of that organization for a period of five years after they cease to be a DPOH.
• Individuals who are employed by a corporation that operates for profit may not lobby on behalf of that corporation for a period of five years after they cease to be a DPOH, if lobbying would constitute a significant part (currently interpreted as meaning 20% or more) of their work.

The prohibition does not apply to an individual who held a designated public office holder position only because they participated in a work exchange program.

The Commissioner of Lobbying may also impose a ban on lobbying, for up to two years, on anyone convicted under the Lobbying Act.

9. What is the difference between registrable and reportable lobbying activities?

Registrable activities refer to lobbying activities described in a registration.

For in-house lobbyists (organizations and corporations), a registration is required within two months of reaching the significant part of duties threshold.

Consultant lobbyists must submit a registration within 10 days of entering into an undertaking.

Reportable activities refer to lobbying activities captured in a monthly communication report. A monthly communication report is required for each oral and arranged communication with a designated public office holder. It must be submitted by the 15th day of the month following the date of the communication.

A communication report cannot be submitted if there is no existing registration.

10. What is an oral and arranged communication?

Oral communications include:

• telephone conversations/teleconferences,
• meetings, or
• any other verbal communication (for example, a communication that takes place over the Internet using VoIP or other modern technologies).

An arranged communication is one that has been arranged in advance, and where:

• there is a request made;
• the request is accepted; and
• there is a time interval between the request and the communication.

11. What are the time limits for registering and reporting lobbying activities?

The Lobbying Act requires that registrations be filed with the OCL in accordance with the following time limits:

• Consultant lobbyists: not later than 10 days after entering into the undertaking;
• In-house lobbyists: not later than two months after the day on which the requirement to file a return arises.

In addition, the Act stipulates that monthly communication reports must be filed with the OCL not later than 15 days after the end of the month following the date of the communication.

If five months have elapsed since the end of the month in which a return was filed (e.g. monthly communication reports or registration update), and there have been no changes to the registration and no oral and arranged communications with designated public office holders, the Act requires that the registrant file a six-month return before the first of the following month.

12. When are monthly returns required?

Lobbyists are required to file a monthly return no later than 15 days after the end of every month, if any of the following conditions exists:

• An oral and arranged communication with a designated public office holder took place during the month being reported upon.
• Information contained in an active registration is no longer correct or additional information that the lobbyist has become aware of should be included in the registration (e.g., new government institution being lobbied, new subject matter being lobbied, etc.).
• The lobbying activities have terminated or in the case of in-house lobbyists' (corporations and organizations) activities, no longer require registration.

If five months have elapsed since the end of the month in which a return was filed (e.g. monthly communication report or registration update) and there have been no changes to the registration and no oral and arranged communications with designated public office holders, the Act requires that the registrant file a six-month return before the first of the following month.

13. What should a registrant do if a deadline for submitting a registration or a monthly communication report is missed?

If a deadline is missed, the registrant should submit their return in the Registry of Lobbyists as soon as possible. This will ensure transparency of the lobbying activities. At the same time, the registrant should contact the OCL and inform their Registration Advisor of the cause of the delay and the action that will be taken to avoid missing deadlines in the future. Based on the information provided and the compliance history of the registrant, an assessment will be undertaken by the OCL to determine the most suitable compliance measure.

14. Do all employees of an organization or corporation who communicate with the federal government have to be named in the registration?

Organizations

Only paid employees whose duties involve communication with public office holders regarding certain subjects (i.e., the development of any legislative proposal, any Bill or resolution, any regulation, any policy or program, or the awarding of any grant, contribution or other financial benefit) must be included.

In the case of a non-profit organization, a registration must list the name of each employee whose duties involve such communications with public office holders.

Corporations

Only those whose duties involve communication with public office holders regarding certain subjects (i.e., the development of any legislative proposal, any Bill or resolution, any regulation, any policy or program, or the awarding of any grant, contribution or other financial benefit) must be included.

For example, employees in sales and marketing who communicate with federal officials solely to sell their company's goods and services are not required to register.

A corporation's most senior officer that is paid must provide two separate lists of employees who communicate with public office holders The first must include the name and title of each senior officer or employee who will spend a significant part of their time communicating with public office holders, and the second list must include the names and titles of all other senior officers of the corporation not listed in the first list, any part of whose duties is to communicate with public office holders. The names of employees who are not senior officers and for whom lobbying does not constitute a significant part of their duties are not be included in either list.

A senior officer, in respect of a corporation, is defined in the Lobbying Act as:

• a chief executive officer, chief operating officer or president of the corporation, or
• any other officer who reports directly to the chief executive officer, chief operating officer or president of the corporation.

15. Which public office holders should be included in a monthly communication report?

Monthly communication reports should only contain the names of designated public office holders with whom oral and arranged communications took place. If more than one designated public office holder participated in the communication, all names should be included in the monthly communication report.

16. When a federal official initiates a meeting, do lobbyists need to report the communication?

If a federal official initiates a meeting, a report must be filed when all of the following applies to the communication:

• it is oral and arranged;
• at least one designated public office holder is part of the communication; and
• that a financial benefit, such as a grant or contribution, is discussed.

Those who are consultant lobbyists must also file a communication report when the awarding of a contract for goods and/or services is discussed.

Other communications initiated by a federal official related to legislation, regulations, policies or programs do not require a communication report.

Note: All oral and arranged communications with designated public office holders about any registrable topic must be reported if they are initiated by someone other than a federal official.

17. What is meant by the effective date of a registration?

For in-house lobbyists, the effective date refers to the date when the lobbying activities of the organization or corporation reached the significant part of duties threshold.

For consultant lobbyists, the effective date refers to the date when the registrant, either verbally on in writing, commits to lobby on behalf of a client.

When registering a lobbying activity, the registrant will be asked to select the effective date.

18. How does the most senior officer that is paid know if the lobbying activities of their organization or corporation constitute a significant part of duties?

For in-house lobbyists (organizations or corporations), the Act requires that the most senior officer that is paid (the registrant) file a return when:

• one or more employees communicate with federal public office holders on behalf of the employer; and
• the lobbying-related duties performed by one or more employees collectively constitute a significant part of the duties of one employee.

The threshold after which lobbying represents a significant part of one's duties has been established at 20% or more of overall duties.

19. What happens when there is a change to the most senior paid officer in the organization or corporation?

When there is a change to the most senior officer that is paid, the organization or corporation should contact us so that the information in the registration can be transferred from the previous registrant to the new one.

20. Can a registrant ask a representative to manage their registration?

The registrant may authorize one or more representatives (internal or external) to compile and input information into the Registry of Lobbyists on their behalf.

However, only the registrant may certify a registration or a monthly communication report.

Delegating to a representative does not release the registrant from their accountability for the accuracy of the information.