Office of the Lobbyist Registrar

Exemptions from registration for organizations and persons

When acting in their official capacity, persons in the following groups do not need to register.

• Not-for-profit community service organizations. (Please note that not-for-profits related to a for-profit interest or that are funded to advance a for-profit interest must register before lobbying.)
• Municipal, provincial, and federal governments.
• First Nations councils.
• Foreign governments.
• School boards.
• Numerous exempt municipal level corporations and other bodies. (PDF)
• Public office holders of the City of Toronto.
• People on the staff of—or making representations on behalf of—unions or other employee or labour groups acting on behalf of employees of the City or a local board (restricted definition) when communicating about normal labour-relations matters. (They do have to register when communicating about activities that aren’t related to normal labour relations.) Here’s a list of some of these groups. (PDF)