Annual report 2021-22

Table of contents

• Commissioner's message
• Enabling transparency
• Spotlight on improvements to the Registry of Lobbyists
• Ensuring compliance
• Spotlight on the judicial review of Reports to Parliament
• Expanding awareness and understanding
• Spotlight on the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct consultation
• Spotlight on the Office’s enhanced international presence
• Workings of the Office
• Spotlight on staffing challenges following Budget 2021
• Looking ahead

Preface

This report is submitted to the Parliament of Canada pursuant to section 11 of the Lobbying Act (Act) R.S.C., 1985, c. 44 (4th Supp.).

Within three months after the end of each fiscal year, the Commissioner must prepare a report about the administration of the Lobbying Act during that fiscal year. The Commissioner is required to submit the report to the Speaker of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Commons. Each Speaker tables the report in the Chamber over which they preside.

Commissioner's message

None of this could have happened without the skill and talent of my small, dedicated team of professionals who achieved all of it while working remotely. I cannot thank them enough for their efforts and resilience.

Nancy Bélanger
Commissioner of Lobbying

Enabling transparency

Registry of Lobbyists

The most senior paid officers of corporations or organizations must file an in-house registration for their corporations or organizations when they or their employees communicate with federal officials on listed subject matters and meet the registration threshold; consultant lobbyists must register if they agree to lobby for a client or to arrange a meeting between a public office holder and another person. Both consultants and senior paid officers for in-house lobbyists must report certain communication on a monthly basis in the Registry of Lobbyists.

The Registry of Lobbyists offers Canadians reporting tools and statistics, as well as a powerful search function that enable the public to review and scrutinize the information lobbyists must file under the Lobbying Act.

Who engaged in lobbying

Who was lobbied (oral and arranged communications)

Active registrations and active lobbyists

The 2021-22 fiscal year started with new monthly records for active registrations and active lobbyists and ended with all-time highs set in March 2022 for both. The figures below represent the number of registrations and lobbyists registered in each month.

Subject matters in registrations and communication reports

Government institutions in registrations and communication reports

Monthly communication reports

The first quarter of the 2021-22 fiscal year delivered records for communication reports in April and June. July 2021 saw the second highest total for that particular month since communication reporting began in 2008.

The Prime Minister called the 44th Canadian federal election on August 15, 2021, with the vote occurring September 20. Lobbying activity is typically slow during an election period and in the few months after the vote. In 2021-22, the federal campaign corresponded with a drop in communication reports that began in August and lasted through November compared to years without an election.

From there, December tied the monthly record for communication reporting and January set a new mark before the fiscal year ended with February topping 3,000 for the third consecutive year and March delivered a record number of reports for that month.

In the end, 2021-22 came out as the second busiest year for communications reporting with a total of 24,538 filed for the fiscal year. The record occurred in 2020-21, when approximately 29,000 communication reports were filed.

Note: All communication report numbers from the Registry of Lobbyists in this report were gathered on May 2, 2022. This increases the accuracy of the numbers in this report to include the communications of March 2022.

Timeliness of communication reports

Late communication reports

Registration and Client Services

To ensure compliance as well as accurate and consistent data in the Registry of Lobbyists, the Registration and Client Services team reviews all new, updated, and reactivated registrations to verify that they meet all the disclosure requirements outlined in the Lobbying Act. In addition to assisting with registrations, the team delivers information sessions to lobbyists to help them understand their obligations under the Lobbying Act and the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct. The team answers inquiries from stakeholders on a wide range of topics and also reaches out to lobbyists to offer advice and support.

Reviewing registrations

Between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022, the team reviewed and posted 8,001 new, reactivated and updated registrations, for an average of 667 per month. Of these, 1,520, or about 19%, were returned to the registrant only once for corrections, while another 274, or about 3.4%, were sent back for correction more than once.

Overall activity decreased 5.7% compared to 2020-21, likely due in part to the election and in part to the exceptional increases seen in the previous fiscal year where registration activity increased 24%. Compared to the numbers seen in the 2019-20 fiscal year, which also included an election, new registrations were up by 22%, updated registrations up by 15.9% and reactivated registrations down by 17.8%.

Registration activity

Inquiries by source

Inquiries by topic

Registration and Client Services service standards

In 2021-22, the Registration and Client Services team continued with its excellence in service standards, exceeding all targets when processing new registrations, responding to inquiries, and answering calls.

Ensuring compliance

Compliance Directorate

The Compliance Directorate ensures that registrants, lobbyists, and former designated public office holders meet their obligations by conducting activities to enforce the Lobbying Act and the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct.

The Compliance Directorate began 2021-22 with 24 ongoing files at the preliminary assessment stage of an investigation and initiated 22 during the year. Fourteen files were closed at the preliminary assessment stage and 1 investigation was pursued. At the beginning of this financial exercise, the Office carried forward 5 investigations from previous years. During the year, they were all finalized as indicated in the box below, including 1 where the Commissioner referred the matter to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as she had reasonable grounds to believe an offense occurred under the Lobbying Act. As of March 31, 2022, 31 files were at the preliminary assessment stage while 1 was an ongoing investigation.

In addition to investigation efforts, the Office initiates compliance assessments to address late filings of registrations and late reporting of monthly communications. Follow-ups are conducted after one year of regular monitoring to ensure continued compliance. The number of compliance assessments increased from 72 in 2020-21 to 90 in 2021-22.

Compliance statistics

Investigation report

Mark Aldridge, President and Chief Executive Officer of MCAP Commercial LP

Tabled in Parliament on June 10, 2021, the investigation report on Mr. Mark Aldridge, president and chief executive officer of MCAP Commercial LP, examined communication between Mr. Robert Silver, senior vice-president of strategy, risk and policy for MCAP, and federal public office holders. This communication concerned MCAP’s role in administering the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program on behalf of the Government of Canada and the eligibility of limited partnerships to claim the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy for their employees.

The Commissioner found that the amount of communication with federal public office holders during the period under investigation fell below the “significant part of duties threshold’’ and did not trigger a requirement to register; therefore, no breach of the Lobbying Act occurred.

In the report, the Commissioner also reiterated the view from her “Improving the Lobbying Act: Preliminary recommendations” submitted to the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics that the “significant part of duties” registration threshold for in-house lobbyists in the Lobbying Act should be replaced by registration of in-house lobbying activities by default. This would ensure that a substantial volume of in-house lobbying activity does not go unreported in the Registry of Lobbyists.

Communication report verification

In past years, the Office verified the accuracy and completeness of a 5% sampling of all communication reports submitted by lobbyists each month. In September 2021, the Office launched a six-month pilot project and increased the sampling of monthly communication reports verifications to 10%.

The goal of this pilot project was to determine if the proportion of accurate monthly communication reports would differ by increasing the sampling size. No significant difference was noticed in the accuracy rate. The Office decided to end the pilot project in March 2022 to focus on other compliance activities.

Communication report verifications

By the end of 2021-22, designated public office holders named in 1,813 communication reports reviewed the information and confirmed their completeness and accuracy. The verification confirmed that 1,559 reports or 86% as accurate.

Common inaccuracies in communication reports

Exemption requests

In 2021-22, the Office received 6 applications for exemptions to the five-year prohibition on lobbying from former designated public office holders and 3 applications were carried over from the previous year.

Two were granted and 3 denied, while 2 were withdrawn. Two applications were carried over to 2022-23.

All exemptions are published online.

Exemption request service standards

Expanding awareness and understanding

Outreach and education

The Office engages with stakeholders to foster awareness and understanding of their obligations under the Lobbying Act and the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct.

In 2021-22, the office met with 1,327 stakeholders through 83 presentations to lobbyists, public office holders, and other interested parties, such as universities and international organizations. This represented an increase of 42% over 2020-21.

Interactions with stakeholders

The Office also sent advisory letters to 49 potential lobbyists informing them of the Lobbying Act’s registration requirements and 24 to former designated public office holders regarding the legislation’s post-employment restrictions.

Media engagement

The Office received 35 media inquiries in 2021-22, down significantly from the 102 in the previous fiscal year. About 23% concerned compliance activities, 14% inquired about the Registry of Lobbyists, and another 14% asked about the consultation on the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct.

The Office granted 6 interviews to Canadian reporters.

Parliamentary appearance

On May 14, 2021, the Commissioner also appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics to discuss the Main Estimates and answer members’ questions about Canada’s lobbying legislation.

Lobbying and the election

To help lobbyists comply with the Lobbying Act’s registration and reporting requirements, the Office published information to clarify the status of elected officials and their staffs during an election period.

Status of Parliamentarians and their staff during a federal election

Pre- and post-election outreach to members of Parliament and their staff

Following the results of the election, the Office engaged in outreach initiatives designed to help members of Parliament increase their awareness and understanding of the Lobbying Act and Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct.

In February 2022, the Office teamed up with the Library of Parliament to offer information sessions to members of Parliament and their staff about Canada’s lobbying framework. The audiences for both the English and French sessions comprised of members of Parliament and their staff and totaled 51 individuals. The Office also sent 43 letters outlining the five-year prohibition on lobbying that applies to former designated public office holders to those members of Parliament who did not seek re-election or who were not re-elected.

Workings of the Office

The Office implemented the first year of its 2021-24 strategic and operational plan as identified in the Office’s Departmental Plan. The Office will report its progress in its 2021-22 Departmental Results Report in the upcoming fiscal year.

As happened last fiscal year, most employees predominantly teleworked in 2021-22 and the Office continued to find ways to encourage staff to connect and collaborate virtually. This included regular all-staff meetings, “fireside chats” where employees shared their expertise and projects with colleagues, and social events, such as virtual coffees.

The absence of an annual Public Service Employment Survey in 2021 makes it difficult for the Office to report on its progress in maintaining an exceptional workplace; however, the Office endeavored to continue to maintain a healthy workplace with initiatives such as a LEAN exercise, mental health support and workshops, and diversity and inclusion awareness and training.

LEAN exercise

A “LEAN” exercise with all staff members identified three focus areas: improving the quality of reports, memos, and documents; identifying collaboration opportunities early in all processes; and, enhancing document findability in the Office’s information management systems.

Mental health strategy

Launched in the 2019-20 fiscal year, the Office’s Mental Health Strategy continues to support employee health, safety, and well-being through collaboration, inclusiveness, respect, and continuous learning. The Office’s Mental Health Committee organized four events in 2021-22 designed to raise awareness of mental health issues:

Throughout the year, the Office encouraged staff to attend several workshops and information sessions from the Canadian Innovation Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace and Lifespeak. The Office also provided employees with resources to help them navigate through the difficulties related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Diversity and inclusion

Following the signing of the Statement of Action against Systemic Racism, Bias and Discrimination in the Public Service by the Office’s head of Human Resources in December 2020, the Commissioner outlined her action plan in a “Letter on Implementation of the Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion in the Federal Public Service” to the Clerk of the Privy Council in the summer of 2021.

The efforts toward ensuring a diverse and inclusive workforce included two mandatory training courses from the Canada School of the Public Service for all staff and managers also completed training on inclusive hiring practices.

Employees also attended two events in 2021-22 to help support diversity, inclusion, and awareness:

Looking ahead

As we look to the year ahead, it is expected that it will be another busy one for the Office.

When it comes to the Registry of Lobbyists, we will analyze the data obtained from a user survey launched late in 2021-22 and will continue to develop new reporting tools and statistics in response to the results and stakeholder needs. In addition, we will continue to enhance the Registry of Lobbyists by making it more user-friendly for registrants as they report their lobbying activity.

We will pursue staffing actions to fill the remaining IM/IT positions created after the government’s positive response to our request for additional funding. The Office will also explore other areas where additional funding would benefit the Office and help to improve our service to Canadians.

On the compliance front, the team will focus on completing the ongoing files and developing strategies to address late registration and communication reporting.

Outreach efforts will focus on the revised Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct that is expected to come into force in 2022-23. The Office will work with all stakeholders to ensure they understand the updated rules with respect to transparency and ethical behaviour.

We will also finalize a comprehensive stakeholder engagement strategy to enhance awareness and understanding of the federal lobbying regime. This strategy will leverage analytics, registration data, and feedback from stakeholders to identify and prioritize key areas.

We remain ready to contribute to any future review of the Lobbying Act. We will also update the Commissioner’s interpretation documents concerning the application and enforcement of the Lobbying Act.

As restrictions began to ease at the end of the fiscal year, the Office implemented a hybrid model that required all staff to work on site at least once per week beginning April 1, 2022. This approach will be re-evaluated in September.

We will continue to organize activities that encourage diversity and inclusion in the workplace and support initiatives that deliver on the Office’s Mental Health Strategy. Career development will continue to be supported through training and mentorship opportunities focused on acquiring knowledge, skills and experience.

Canadians can continue to count on the Office’s small, dedicated team of professionals to go above and beyond to help ensure that the Canadian population can have confidence that federal lobbying happens transparently and ethically.