(Democracy Watch: November 2025)
Under Canada’s federal Lobbying Act, only some lobbyists are required to register and disclose only some of their lobbying activities and communications with federal Cabinet ministers, government officials, politicians, political staff etc.
The Act contains a “dirty dozen” loopholes that allow for secret, unregistered lobbying. Click here to see the loopholes.
Only lobbyists who are required to register under the Act are required to comply with the ethical lobbying rules in the federal Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct (Lobbyists’ Code), and the Code also has huge loopholes in it that allow even registered lobbyists to essentially bribe politicians and public officials they are lobbying with favours and gifts.
The loopholes were added to the federal Lobbyists’ Code in July 2023 after a skewed and dishonest public consultation process by Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Bélanger, with the approval of MPs from all parties on the House of Commons Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics Committee. In adding the loopholes, which essentially gut key ethics rules in the Code, Commissioner Bélanger ignored the fact that adding the loopholes was opposed by more than 20,000 voters, by 26 citizen groups with a total membership of 1.5 million Canadians, by 15 lawyers from 7 law firms (and also lawyers in private practice or other roles), and by 26 law, politics and ethics professors from 15 universities in 9 provinces (Click here to see details).
The following are the loopholes in the federal Lobbyists’ Code that allow for unethical lobbying and essentially legalize bribery of federal politicians:
1. A lobbyist is allowed to do secret favours for politicians they are lobbying or are allowed to lobby them soon after doing the favours
In pre-July 2023 version of the Lobbyists’ Code, Rules 6 and 9 and a guideline by the Commissioner prohibited lobbying for 4 years (i.e. until after the next election) after a person did any significant campaigning or event organizing, or any fundraising, for a politician or party.
Under 4.2 in the new Code, depending on the level of campaigning or fundraising a person does for a politician or party, lobbying is allowed at the same time, or right afterwards, or at most only 1-2 years later (only at most 1 year later no matter how much money a lobbyist raises).
Rule 4.2 also gives the Commissioner of Lobbying the power to secretly reduce those lobbying prohibition periods.
When proposing the new loophole, Commissioner of Lobbying Bélanger made the very questionable claim that the Code’s previous 4-year cooling-off period violates the Canadian Charter right to freedom of expression, based on one opinion that the Commissioner paid law firm Goldblatt Partners for in a sole-source contract that was extended twice, increasing from $11,300 to $45,200 and then up to $90,400.
In fact, several Supreme Court of Canada and other Canadian court rulings have clearly stated that Charter rights must be restricted to protect government integrity, and as a result it is clear that the previous 4-year cooling-off period complies with the Charter while the new shorter or non-existent cooling-off periods violate the Charter.
2. Gifts and hospitality are allowed to be given by lobbyists to politicians and public officials they lobby
Under Rules 3.1 to 3.3 of the Lobbyists’ Code, lobbyists are allowed to give a gift or hospitality (i.e. a meal or event) worth up to $40 each time, and up to $200 over any 12-month period.
While those dollar amounts are not exorbitantly high, and can be afforded by most lobbying organizations, and while these rules are stronger than in past versions of the Code, the rules open up gift-giving and wining and dining as a means of influence, and the limits are difficult to enforce because lobbyist’s interactions with public officials can’t be monitored in any comprehensive, detailed way.
In addition, the Rules allow the Commissioner to secretly exempt lobbyists from the limits.
A better system is to prohibit all gifts and hospitality because it is much more clear rule, and because clinical studies by psychologists in many countries show that even small gifts influence decisions.
3. Lobbying for clients that have conflicting interests is allowed
In a past, pre-2015 version of the Lobbyists’ Code, lobbyists were prohibited from representing clients that had conflicting interests unless the clients consented. The current version of the Code allows lobbyists to representing clients with conflicting interests, which has led to some lobbying firms doing that. Click here to see details.
Key Changes Needed to Make Enforcement of the Lobbying Act Independent, Transparent, Timely, Effective and Accountable
The following changes are needed to ensure the enforcement of the federal Lobbying Act and Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct (Lobbyists’ Code) and is independent, transparent, timely, effective and accountable, which it isn’t currently and hasn’t been at any time since the Act was enacted in 1988 and the Code was enacted in 1997. Click here to see a policy paper (in English only) that sets out details concerning these much-needed changes to the current federal enforcement system (similar changes are needed to every provincial, territorial and municipal ethics law enforcement system across Canada).
1. Establish, by adding new provisions to the Lobbying Act (by completely changing section 4.1), a fully independent, fully non-partisan committee to conduct a public, merit-based search for short list (1-3) qualified candidates for the Commissioner of Lobbying, and then have that committee make the final choice and submit the choice to an all-party committee for appointment (with no possibility of re-appointment as that gives the enforcer an incentive to please office holders by letting them off when they violate the rules). This should also be the system for the appointment of all Officers of Parliament, the Commissioner and all other top officers of the RCMP, the head of FINTRAC, the new Foreign Interference Transparency Commissioner, and all judges, all of whom need to be fully independent in order to be perceived as being capable of impartially and effectively enforcing the key democratic good government and anti-corruption laws they enforce.
2. Add a new section 10.6 that requires the Commissioner of Lobbying to conduct regular, unannounced audits of a randomly selected sample of lobbyists’ communications and other activities, gifts and benefits and other matters and activities covered by the Lobbying Act and Lobbyists’ Code.
3. Also in a new section 10.6, require the Commissioner of Lobbying to publish online binding interpretations of every measure in the Lobbying Act and Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct with examples of real situations, and to publish online a summary of the Commissioner’s advice or opinion each time advice or an opinion about a new situation is given to any person covered by the Lobbying Act or Lobbyists’ Code, so everyone knows exactly what the law and code prohibit.
4. Also in a new section 10.6, require the Commissioner of Lobbying to publish online a notice setting out all the details every time the Commissioner grants an exemption to any rule in the Lobbyists’ Code.
5. Require in a new subsections of sections 5 and 7 of the Lobbying Act that all lobbyists take a formal training course from the Commissioner of Lobbying when they first registering as a lobbyist, and annually.
6. Change subsection 10.4(1) the Lobbying Act to give members of the public, who employ and pay all office holders, a clear legal right to file a complaint with the Commissioner of Lobbying.
7. Delete clauses 10.4(1.1)(b) to (d) in the Lobbying Act, and change sections 4 and 10.5 to require the Commissioner of Lobbying to investigate and issue a public ruling on every complaint s/he receives and every situation s/he becomes aware of that raises any questions about whether a lobbyist has complied with the Lobbying Act or Lobbyists’ Code.
8. Add a new subsection to section 10.5 that empowers and requires the Commissioner of Lobbying to impose a sliding scale of mandatory penalties (specifically listed in the new subsection) depending on the seriousness of any and all violations of the Lobbying Act or the Lobbyists’ Code, with a set mandatory fine and prohibition on lobbying for a specified time period imposed on every violator, and more significant fines and prohibitions for longer time periods as the mandatory penalties for more serious violations. In addition, change subsections 10.4(7) to (9) of the Act to specify that the Commissioner is only required to refer the most serious violations of the Act to police, and that the Commissioner is not required to suspend any investigation concerning a violation of the Act or Code even if the Commissioner refers a matter to police that involves a violation of another law.
9. Add a new subsection to section 10.5 of the Lobbying Act giving any member of the public a clear right to apply in Federal Court for a judicial review of any decision made by the Commissioner of Lobbying under the Lobbying Act or Lobbyists’ Code.
The lobbying laws in provinces, territories and municipalities across Canada all have essentially the same or similar loopholes that allow for unethical lobbying (or that the commissioners in each jurisdiction, as in Ontario, have interpreted in ways that allow for unethical lobbying).
As long as these loopholes are left open, secret, unethical lobbying will continue to corrupt politics and government policy-making and contracting out processes across Canada.
Join the call for key changes to stop secret, unethical lobbying across Canada at Democracy Watch’s Stop Secret, Unethical Lobbying Campaign
