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Lobbying Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. 44 (4th Supp.))

Full Document:  

Act current to 2024-03-06 and last amended on 2022-07-26. Previous Versions

Registration of Lobbyists (continued)

Consultant Lobbyists (continued)

 [Repealed, 2003, c. 10, s. 5]

In-house Lobbyists (Corporations and Organizations)

Marginal note:Requirement to file return

  •  (1) The officer responsible for filing returns for a corporation or organization shall file with the Commissioner, in the prescribed form and manner, a return setting out the information referred to in subsection (3) if

    • (a) the corporation or organization employs one or more individuals any part of whose duties is to communicate with public office holders on behalf of the employer or, if the employer is a corporation, on behalf of any subsidiary of the employer or any corporation of which the employer is a subsidiary, in respect of

      • (i) the development of any legislative proposal by the Government of Canada or by a member of the Senate or the House of Commons,

      • (ii) the introduction of any Bill or resolution in either House of Parliament or the passage, defeat or amendment of any Bill or resolution that is before either House of Parliament,

      • (iii) the making or amendment of any regulation as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Statutory Instruments Act,

      • (iv) the development or amendment of any policy or program of the Government of Canada, or

      • (v) the awarding of any grant, contribution or other financial benefit by or on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Canada; and

    • (b) those duties constitute a significant part of the duties of one employee or would constitute a significant part of the duties of one employee if they were performed by only one employee.

  • Marginal note:Time limit for filing return

    (2) The officer responsible for filing returns shall file a return not later than two months after the day on which the requirement to file a return first arises under subsection (1).

  • (2.1) [Repealed, 2006, c. 9, s. 70]

  • Marginal note:Contents of return

    (3) The return shall set out the following information:

    • (a) the name and business address of the officer responsible for filing returns;

    • (b) the name and business address of the employer;

    • (b.1) if the employer is a corporation, the name and business address of every subsidiary of the corporation that, to the knowledge of the officer responsible for filing returns, has a direct interest in the outcome of an employee’s activities on behalf of the employer in respect of any matter described in subparagraphs (1)(a)(i) to (v);

    • (b.2) if the employer is a corporation that is a subsidiary of any other corporation, the name and business address of that other corporation;

    • (c) a description in summary form of the employer’s business or activities and any other information to identify its business or activities that is prescribed;

    • (d) if the employer is an organization, a description of the organization’s membership and any other information to identify its membership that is prescribed;

    • (e) if the employer is funded in whole or in part by a government or government agency, the name of the government or agency, as the case may be, and the amount of funding received;

    • (f) if the employer is an organization, the name of each employee any part of whose duties is as described in paragraph (1)(a);

    • (f.1) if the employer is a corporation,

      • (i) a list including the name of each senior officer or employee a significant part of whose duties is as described in paragraph (1)(a), and

      • (ii) a second list including the name of each other senior officer any part of whose duties is as described in paragraph (1)(a) but without constituting a significant part;

    • (g) particulars to identify the subject-matter of any communication that any employee named in the return has made or is expected to make with a public office holder in respect of any matter described in subparagraphs (1)(a)(i) to (v) and any other information respecting that subject-matter that is prescribed;

    • (h) if any employee named in the return is a former public office holder, a description of the offices held, which of those offices, if any, qualified the employee as a designated public office holder and the date on which the employee last ceased to hold such a designated public office;

    • (h.1) to (h.3) [Repealed, 2006, c. 9, s. 70]

    • (i) particulars to identify any relevant legislative proposal, Bill, resolution, regulation, policy, program, grant, contribution or financial benefit;

    • (j) the name of any department or other governmental institution in which any public office holder with whom any employee named in the return communicates or is expected to communicate in respect of any matter described in subparagraphs (1)(a)(i) to (v) is employed or serves;

    • (k) particulars to identify any communication technique, including grass-roots communication within the meaning of paragraph 5(2)(j), that any employee named in the return uses or is expected to use in connection with any communication in respect of any matter described in subparagraphs (1)(a)(i) to (v); and

    • (l) any other information that is prescribed that relates to the identity of the officer responsible for filing returns, the employer, any subsidiary referred to in paragraph (b.1), any corporation referred to in paragraph (b.2) of which the employer is a subsidiary, any employee referred to in paragraph (f) or (f.1) or any department or institution referred to in paragraph (j).

  • Marginal note:Requirement to file monthly return

    (4) The officer responsible for filing returns shall file a return, in the prescribed form and manner, not later than 15 days after the end of every month, beginning with the one in which the return is filed under subsection (1), that

    • (a) sets out, with respect to every communication referred to in paragraph (1)(a) that is of a prescribed type and that was made in that month involving a designated public office holder,

      • (i) the name of the designated public office holder who was the object of the communication,

      • (ii) the date of the communication,

      • (iii) particulars, including any prescribed particulars, to identify the subject-matter of the communication, and

      • (iv) any other information that is prescribed;

    • (b) if any information contained in the return filed under subsection (1) is no longer correct or additional information that the officer would have been required to provide under that subsection has come to the knowledge of the officer after the return was filed, provides the corrected or additional information; and

    • (c) if the employer no longer employs any employees whose duties are as described in paragraphs (1)(a) and (b), advises the Commissioner of that fact.

  • Marginal note:First monthly return

    (4.1) The first return filed under subsection (4) shall, despite paragraph (4)(a), set out the information required by that paragraph in respect of communications made between the day on which the requirement to file a return first arose under subsection (1) and the end of the month immediately before the filing of the return.

  • Marginal note:Exception

    (4.2) Subject to subsection (4.3), no return is required under subsection (4) if no communication referred to in paragraph (4)(a) was made during the period with respect to which the return is to set out information and if the circumstances referred to in paragraphs (4)(b) and (c) have not arisen.

  • Marginal note:Return — six-month period

    (4.3) In any case, no more than five months shall have elapsed since the end of the month in which a return was last filed without a return being filed under subsection (4), even if, since the last return, no communication was made as referred to in paragraph (4)(a) and the circumstances referred to in paragraphs (4)(b) and (c) have not arisen, in which case the report shall so state.

  • Marginal note:Termination of reporting obligation

    (4.4) The obligation to file a return under subsection (4) terminates when the employer no longer employs any employees whose duties are as described in paragraphs (1)(a) and (b) and a report has been filed under that subsection advising of that fact in accordance with paragraph (4)(c).

  • Marginal note:Information requested by Commissioner

    (5) If the Commissioner requests information to clarify any information that has been provided to the Commissioner under this section, the officer responsible for filing returns shall, in the prescribed form and manner, not later than thirty days after the request is made, provide the Commissioner with the information.

  • Marginal note:Definitions

    (6) In this section,

    employee

    employee includes an officer who is compensated for the performance of their duties; (employé)

    officer responsible for filing returns

    officer responsible for filing returns means the employee who holds the most senior office in a corporation or organization and is compensated for the performance of their duties; (déclarant)

    senior officer

    senior officer, in respect of a corporation, means

    • (a) a chief executive officer, chief operating officer or president of the corporation, or

    • (b) any other officer who reports directly to the chief executive officer, chief operating officer or president of the corporation. (cadre dirigeant)

  • R.S., 1985, c. 44 (4th Supp.), s. 7
  • 1995, c. 12, s. 3
  • 2003, c. 10, s. 7
  • 2006, c. 9, ss. 70, 81

Certification

Marginal note:Certification

 Every individual who submits a return or other document to the Commissioner pursuant to this Act shall certify on the return or other document or, where it is submitted in electronic or other form in accordance with subsection 7.2(1), in such manner as is specified by the Commissioner, that the information contained in it is true to the best of their knowledge and belief.

  • 1995, c. 12, s. 3
  • 2006, c. 9, s. 81

Documents in Electronic or Other Form

Marginal note:Submission of documents

  •  (1) Subject to the regulations, any return or other document that is required to be submitted to the Commissioner under this Act may be submitted in electronic or other form by such means and in such manner as is specified by the Commissioner.

  • Marginal note:Time of receipt

    (2) For the purposes of this Act, any return or other document that is submitted in accordance with subsection (1) is deemed to be received by the Commissioner at the time provided for in the regulations.

  • 1995, c. 12, s. 3
  • 2006, c. 9, s. 81

Marginal note:Storage

  •  (1) Subject to the regulations, any return or other document that is received by the Commissioner may be entered or recorded by any information storage device, including any system of mechanical or electronic data processing, that is capable of reproducing the stored return or other document in intelligible form within a reasonable time.

  • Marginal note:Evidence

    (2) In any prosecution for an offence under this Act, a copy of a return or other document that is reproduced as permitted by subsection (1) and certified under the Commissioner’s signature as a true copy is admissible in evidence without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed the copy and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, has the same probative force as the original would have if it were proved in the ordinary way.

  • 1995, c. 12, s. 3
  • 2006, c. 9, s. 81

Registry

 [Repealed, 2006, c. 9, s. 71]

Marginal note:Registry

  •  (1) The Commissioner shall establish and maintain a registry in which shall be kept a record of all returns and other documents submitted to the Commissioner under this Act and of any information sent under subsection 9.1(1) and responses provided relative to that information.

  • Marginal note:Form of registry

    (2) The registry shall be organized in such manner and kept in such form as the Commissioner may determine.

  • Marginal note:Audit

    (3) The Commissioner may verify the information contained in any return or other document submitted to the Commissioner under this Act.

  • Marginal note:Clarifications and corrections

    (3.1) Every individual who is required to submit returns or other documents referred to in subsection (1), or to provide responses referred to in that subsection, shall provide in the prescribed time, manner and form any clarification or correction to them that the Commissioner requires.

  • Marginal note:Access to registry

    (4) The registry shall be open to public inspection at such place and at such reasonable hours as the Commissioner may determine.

  • R.S., 1985, c. 44 (4th Supp.), s. 9
  • 1995, c. 12, s. 5
  • 2006, c. 9, ss. 72, 81

Marginal note:Confirmation of lobbying activity information

  •  (1) The Commissioner may send to any present or former designated public office holder information derived from that referred to in paragraph 5(3)(a) or 7(4)(a) and provided in returns filed under subsection 5(3) or 7(4) in order that the office holder — in the prescribed time, manner and form — confirm to the Commissioner its accuracy and completeness or correct and complete it.

  • Marginal note:Report

    (2) The Commissioner may, in a report under section 11 or 11.1, report on the failure by a present or former designated public office holder to respond relative to information sent under subsection (1) or the provision by such a person of an unsatisfactory response.

  • 2006, c. 9, s. 73

Marginal note:Interpretation bulletins

  •  (1) The Commissioner may issue advisory opinions and interpretation bulletins with respect to the enforcement, interpretation or application of this Act other than under sections 10.2 to 10.5.

  • Marginal note:Interpretation bulletins not statutory instruments

    (2) The advisory opinions and interpretation bulletins are not statutory instruments for the purposes of the Statutory Instruments Act and are not binding.

  • R.S., 1985, c. 44 (4th Supp.), s. 10
  • 1995, c. 12, s. 5
  • 2004, c. 7, s. 20
  • 2006, c. 9, s. 74

Lobbyists’ Remuneration

Marginal note:Prohibition — lobbyist

  •  (1) An individual who is required to file a return under subsection 5(1) shall not receive any payment that is in whole or in part contingent on the outcome of any matter described in subparagraphs 5(1)(a)(i) to (vi) or on the individual’s success in arranging a meeting referred to in paragraph 5(1)(b).

  • Marginal note:Prohibition — client

    (2) The client of an individual referred to in subsection (1) shall not make any such payment to the individual.

  • 1995, c. 12, s. 5
  • 2004, c. 7, s. 21
  • 2006, c. 9, s. 75

Restriction on Lobbying Activity

Marginal note:Five-year prohibition — lobbying

  •  (1) No individual shall, during a period of five years after the day on which the individual ceases to be a designated public office holder,

    • (a) carry on any of the activities referred to in paragraph 5(1)(a) or (b) in the circumstances referred to in subsection 5(1);

    • (b) if the individual is employed by an organization, carry on any of the activities referred to in paragraph 7(1)(a) on behalf of that organization; and

    • (c) if the individual is employed by a corporation, carry on any of the activities referred to in paragraph 7(1)(a) on behalf of that corporation if carrying on those activities would constitute a significant part of the individual’s work on its behalf.

  • Marginal note:Exception

    (2) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of any designated public office that was held only because the individual participated in an employment exchange program.

  • Marginal note:Exemption

    (3) On application, the Commissioner of Lobbying may, on any conditions that the Commissioner specifies, exempt an individual from the application of subsection (1) if the Commissioner is of the opinion that the exemption would not be contrary to the purposes of this Act having regard to any circumstance or factor that the Commissioner considers relevant, including whether the individual

    • (a) was a designated public office holder for a short period;

    • (b) was a designated public office holder on an acting basis;

    • (c) was employed under a program of student employment; or

    • (d) had administrative duties only.

  • Marginal note:Publication

    (4) The Commissioner shall without delay cause every exemption and the Commissioner’s reasons for it to be made available to the public.

  • 2006, c. 9, s. 75
 

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