Office of the Lobbyist Registrar

Welcome to the home page of the Office of the Lobbyist Registrar for the City of Toronto.

We promote and enhance the transparency and integrity of City government decision making through public disclosure of lobbying activities and regulation of lobbyists' conduct.

Our main instrument for doing this is the Lobbyist Registry, which is an online, searchable tool that documents all lobbying activities in the City of Toronto.

We serve three groups of people:

• Lobbyists, who must comply with the Lobbying By-law and may require our help registering. See What do lobbyists need to know?
• Public office holders, who may wish information about the Lobbying By-law or our help when searching the Registry. See What do public office holders need to know?
• Members of the public, who may have questions about lobbying and need our help when searching the Registry. See How do we serve the general public?

To learn more about who we are and what we do, please see About us. For an introduction to lobbying and answers to questions such as “Who is a lobbyist?” and “Who has to register?”, please start with The basics.

What’s new

July 9, 2010 – new registration screens
On July 9, 2010 the Office of the Lobbyist Registrar launched new lobbyist and subject matter registration screens for use by lobbyists when they register and update their registrations.

The new screens implement changes to the Lobbying By-law that were enacted by Toronto City Council in July 2008. These changes require lobbyists to report their lobbying activities within 3 business days after lobbying. Lobbyists must report the public office holder, subject matter, date of communication and method of communication. Please see our FAQs and Interpretation Bulletin - Pre-Registration and Post-Registration Requirements for more information.

We hope that the new registration screens will be easy to use and provide information that helps lobbyists to register and to report their lobbying activities. We invite lobbyists to contact us if they need assistance and to provide us with feedback on the registration screens.

Interpretation Bulletin - Lobbying and Procurements
The Office of the Lobbyist Registrar has issued a new Interpretation Bulletin, Lobbying and Procurements. Communication about a procurement process is strictly prohibited unless it is permitted by the applicable procurement policies and documents. See § 140-41A of the Lobbying By-law. For example, the City's Procurement Processes Policy prohibits all communications other than with the official point of contact, with respect to any Call from the time of its issuance until the time of the award.

Interpretation Bulletin - Lobbying and Municipal Elections
The Integrity Commissioner and Lobbyist Registrar have released an Interpretation Bulletin on Lobbying and Municipal Elections. The Interpretation Bulletin clarifies that the City's rules on lobbying continue to apply during the municipal election campaign. Members of Toronto City Council and City boards are also bound by codes of conduct that specify they must not knowingly engage in prohibited lobbying communications. For more information, contact the Office of the Integrity Commissioner and the Office of the Lobbyist Registrar.

The information contained on this website is based on the provisions of Municipal Code Chapter 140, Lobbying. (PDF) The website information is a guide to assist registrants using the Lobbyist Registry system. If there is any discrepancy between the website information and Municipal Code Chapter 140, Municipal Code Chapter 140 shall govern.

Tips for searching the Registry