Lobbying Commissioner Recommends Significant Changes To Canada's Federal Lobbyist Registration Rules

Lobbying is at an all-time high in Canada. Last month, Canada's federal Commissioner of Lobbying testified before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. She reported that there were 6,435 active federal lobbyists in March 2021, the most ever in a single month;¹ that there had been a 54-percent increase in monthly communications reports filed compared with the previous fiscal year; and that the number of new lobbyist registrations had increased by 41-percent.² This increased activity, in the Commissioner's view, highlights the need for Parliament to update Canada's lobbying laws.

The Commissioner's appearance before the Standing Committee followed her report on preliminary recommendations to improve the Lobbying Act (the "Act") and Lobbyists Registration Regulations published earlier this year. The report, in turn, followed the Commissioner's testimony in March 2020 to the same Standing Committee, in which the