The Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct prevents you from providing gifts and hospitality to an official that you lobby or expect to lobby – except under the limited conditions described in rules 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3 and consistent with the related definitions. The following is only meant to assist you in understanding these rules.
Gifts
Under rule 3.1, you may only provide gifts to an official you lobby or expect to lobby if:
Where they respect the $40 limit, the following are some examples of allowed hospitality under the Code.
Determining the per-person value of hospitality
The total number of individuals (officials and non-officials) reasonably expected to attend an in-person gathering is not necessarily the number of invitees. Usually, the number of individuals you reasonably expect to attend is the number of individuals for whom you order food and drink. However, your order should be informed by factors such as the number of RSVPs received, the numbers of guests who attended similar past events, etc.
In instances where you share the cost of hospitality including in-kind contributions, the value of the hospitality is the fair market value of what is provided (the food and beverages served to attendees) irrespective of the value of your specific contribution.
Annual limit
Under rule 3.3, the annual limit for all permissible gifts and hospitality, combined, is $200 per official within a calendar year.
Requesting an exemption
If you think providing a gift or instance of hospitality might not respect the rules, you must first request an exemption from the Commissioner. You will be asked to provide details, including information about past gifts and hospitality you have provided to the official in question.
An exemption request form can be accessed from a Registry of Lobbyists account.
Ask us
Lobbyists are strongly encouraged to contact us:
as to whether a gift or an instance of hospitality respects the Code
prior to lobbying officials to whom your employer or your clients have provided gifts or hospitality
