Office of the Lobbyist Registrar

Related pages: [ FAQs ] [ Lobbyists' Code of Conduct ]
[ Managing your subject matter and lobbyist registrations ]

Before you register

If you haven’t already, please review The basics.

Once you’ve determined you need to register, please be sure to review the information below, including the registration checklist, before starting the registration process.

A note on the process

Registering is free.

It involves two separate registrations: (1) registering the lobbyist; and (2) registering the subject matter the lobbyist will be communicating about. Both registrations must be completed and approved before communicating with a public office holder, and the subject matter must also be updated after each communication. (Please see Managing your registrations for tips on updating your subject matter.)

Registering as a lobbyist is like setting up an account. Once registered, the lobbyist can then register more than one subject matter under this account—one for each different topic or issue.

Before you can begin lobbying

Although you’ll complete most of the registration online, you’ll need to send in two separate documents as part of the process:

• Formal request for online registration. The formal request must be made in a letter, signed by the individual who registers. It must include your name and contact information. You can send this signed letter to us by mail, fax, or email (by attaching a scanned image of the signed letter) or deliver it to our office in person. Here’s a sample letter. (PDF)
• Certification form. As the final step in your lobbyist registration, you’ll be prompted to download a certification form. You must print, sign and send the form to us. Please note this form must also be witnessed. You can send this signed form by mail, fax, or email (by attaching a scanned image of the signed form) or deliver it to our office in person.

Once we’ve received and approved these two documents, you’ll receive an email confirming your lobbyist registration number. You’ll also receive through email a registration number for the subject matter, once it's been approved. You must have both numbers before lobbying.

Determine which type of lobbyist you are

The first thing you will be asked to do when you begin registering is to select which type of lobbyist you are: in-house, consultant, or voluntary unpaid. The information you’ll need for registering depends on your type, and you won’t be able to change your classification after registering.

If your position or role qualifies you for more than one lobbyist classification, you’ll need to register each separately. Similarly, if you qualify more than once for the same classification, each must be registered. For examples of these scenarios, please see "Can I be classified as more than one type of lobbyist?" under "Who is a lobbyist?" in the FAQs.

For help determining which type of lobbyist you are, please see Who is a lobbyist? If you still need help, please contact us.

A note to in-house lobbyists!

If you are an employee, you should not register on behalf of your employer. The most senior officer of the business or organization that employs you must register.

As part of registration, the senior officer must include all employees who will be lobbying. The senior officer is responsible for managing registrations. Only an appointed delegate can manage registrations or enter information into the Registry on the senior officer’s behalf. The senior officer can appoint a delegate during initial registration or later by logging in and updating the lobbyist registration.

Review the registration checklist

You will need a valid email address to register electronically. You’ll also be asked to enter or select the following information. (Click to expand the relevant checklist.)

Lobbyist registration

• As senior officer for your firm, your contact information: name, position title, business address, telephone number and email address.
• If you are a former senior public office holder of the City of Toronto: a description of the position you held. (Please note that senior public office holders aren’t permitted to lobby the City for twelve months after leaving their positions.)
• Particulars and contact information about your organization: name, type of business and any other trade names used.
• If you would like to designate a delegate to enter or remove information from the Registry on your behalf: contact information for this person.
• A brief description of your organization’s business activities.
• Your fiscal year. (Use the calendar year if you don’t have a different fiscal year.)
• If your organization has beneficiaries that have a direct interest in the lobbying: name and contact information of all related companies (parent, subsidiary, controlling interest, coalition member, etc.)
• If your organization received any government funding during the previous fiscal year: the governments and the ministries, departments, or agencies involved.
• The names and contact information of all in-house lobbyists you employ.
• If you selected association or not-for-profit as your business/organization type: whether you want to report committees and, if you do, the name of each committee and its members.
• You’ll also need to submit a formal request for online registration (explained above).

Subject matter registration

• The subject matter your lobbyists intend to discuss. Please note that you must make your selection from a subject matter list. If you don’t find an exact match, please select a subject matter that closely resembles yours. You’ll also have to enter details to help clarify your subject matter, such as information about a specific decision, bill, by-law, contract, application, policy or program.
• If, during the previous fiscal year (or calendar year, if you don’t have a different fiscal year), your organization received non-governmental funding of $750 or more that supported lobbying activities: the names and contact information for the contributors and, if the contributors received funding from other sources, the names and contact information for those sources.
• Names of all of your in-house lobbyists who will be lobbying this particular subject matter. If a committee will lobby, you need to select the committee and the proposed date of the communication.
• Whether or not a grass-roots campaign will be used. If yes, you’ll need to provide details of the campaign including whom will be asked to participate, public office holders they will be contacting, and the starting and ending dates of the campaign. (Please note: grass-roots campaigns must be approved in advance. The maximum length for a campaign is two weeks. If longer, you’ll need to contact us to renew the campaign period.)
• After the lobbyists communicate, you’ll need to update the subject matter by entering the public office holders your in-house lobbyists communicated with, details of public office holders’ positions, the dates they communicated, and the communications methods they used. Please see Managing your registrations for more information on updating subject matters.