Canada’s foreign influence registry is now active. Here’s how it works – National

Canada’s long-awaited foreign influence registry became active on Tuesday, with a broad mandate of who’s required to log their activities.

The registry will be overseen by foreign influence transparency commissioner Anton Boegman, whose independent office is responsible for ensuring compliance and issuing penalties as high as $1 million.

“The establishment of a public registry of foreign influence activities strengthens transparency, accountability and public trust,” Boegman said in a government statement.

“By making information about foreign influence activities openly available, we are empowering Canadians with greater insight into how influence is exercised, on whose behalf, and how public decision-making may be shaped, while strengthening confidence in our democratic institutions.”

In an interview with Global News on Tuesday, Boegman said he’s already had discussions with national security agencies including the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service on how to effectively collaborate, while describing his new office as a new tool to combat foreign interference.

“Our focus is really on transparency … of certain foreign influence activites,” he said, while those law enforcement agencies would handle more covert or “malicious” foreign interference like transnational repression.

“By having a broad and comprehensive range of tools and actions that can be brought to address foreign influence, the overall benefit is a good one.”

Ottawa passed legislation in 2024 to establish the registry after multiple media reports — including by Global News — exposed gaps in how the federal government and law enforcement works to prevent foreign interference in elections and Canadian society, particularly from China.

As the registry finally takes effect, here’s what to know about it and whether you need to sign up.

The office of the foreign influence transparency commissioner says the obligation to register rests with the individual or entity who enters into an arrangement with a “foreign principal,” rather than the foreign principal themselves.

A foreign principal is defined as including a foreign power or state; a foreign organization, institution or other entity; a foreign economic entity; or an individual acting on their behalf.

Together, the following three factors would require registration:

• There’s an arrangement with a foreign principal.
• The arrangement’s goal is to “influence a political or governmental process in Canada” such as an election or referendum, proposed legislation, or government contracts.
• The arrangement involves “influence activities.”

Influence activities are defined as communicating with a public office holder (including elected officials and government employees); publicly communicating or sharing government or political information; and providing money, services, use of facilities or other items of value.

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The commissioner’s office says registration obligations “do not apply to arrangements entered by governments and parliamentary entities acting within their official mandates.”

That includes diplomats from foreign governments and employees of foreign principals who are acting exclusively and openly in their official capacity.

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“Other foreign influence activities may be less transparent and can therefore require registration,” the office’s webpage explaining the registration process says.

“For example, a media interview with a foreign principal that is published or streamed may need to be registered. This process ensures these activities are transparent to Canadians.”

Arrangements or activities involving Indigenous public office holders, such as band council and First Nation government members, do not need to be registered as of now. Those rules and definitions under the legislation are not yet in force.

The commissioner’s office has a brief questionnaire on its website that can help people determine if they need to register their activities.

Boegman said the goal is not to stop foreign influence or create a stigma around it, but simply to ensure it’s not being done “covertly, deceptively, coercively, that sort of way.”

“I think it’s important to understand that foreign influence, really it’s kind of a normal part of international relations,” he said.

“Governments and businesses, organizations, they regularly seek to influence public opinion and the public debate in Canada. And when those activities are conducted in a lawful way and in a transparent way, they’re legitimate, and the registry is really designed to support that.”

He continued: “By having this public disclosure mechanism, it really ensures that the activities that are subject to the new legislation, they’re done in a transparent way, in an accountable way, while then weeding out those, let’s say, illicit attempts to harm (or influence) the debate in our country.”

As of Aug. 4, registration is required within 14 days of entering into an arrangement with a foreign principal.

If the arrangement began before Aug. 4, registration is required by Oct. 3.

Once registered, individuals and entities will need to keep their information updated.

Anyone who violates the registry guidelines could face a financial penalty ranging from $250 to $1 million, following an investigation by the commission.

Violations can include:

• Not registering on time when required to do so.
• Not updating their information when it changes.
• Providing false or misleading information to the commissioner.
• Knowingly obstructing the commissioner or anyone working on their behalf.

Information about each violation — including names of individuals, the specific offence and the penalty issued — will be publicly reported by the commissioner, who may also include the reasons behind his decision and “relevant facts” from the investigation.

“On the flip side, there’s also Criminal Code offenses, which would be for more serious transgressions,” Boegman said.

“When there is a distinct, covert foreign interference activity taking place, we would transition those files to the RCMP, they would be able to then investigate those,” he explained, which could result in charges and even steeper penalties.

“By having this dual structure, it’s really intended to provide a great deterrent for non-transparent influence activities.”

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Canada is an outlier among its close allies in lacking a public-facing registry for foreign agents. The Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act (FITAA), introduced in 2024, was meant to address that gap.

An independent federal inquiry led by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue — now the deputy minister of the Department of Justice — found that foreign actors’ attempts to meddle in Canadian affairs have been largely unsuccessful.

But she nevertheless warned when issuing her final report in 2025 that Canadian democracy faced an “existential threat” from disinformation and misinformation campaigns, both foreign and domestic.

Establishing the foreign influence registry — and that members of Parliament, senators and their staff should consult it to see if people they interact with are registered — was among Hogue’s final recommendations.

“At the very least they would learn of existing relationships between individuals they interact with and foreign states,” she wrote.

Advocates for the registry, including civil society organizations and diaspora groups, say it’s increasingly needed now as Prime Minister Mark Carney and his government seek to improve ties with China and India — two countries that CSIS says are among the leading purveyors of foreign interference in Canada.

Researchers behind a report released earlier this year on transnational repression have urged the government to quickly set up the registry, saying it would help reduce sometimes violent attempts to influence or suppress opposition in diaspora communities.

Boegman said he will be tasked with writing his annual and investigative reports to parliamentarians and the public, rather than reporting directly to the prime minister or cabinet.

“We’re putting in place a needed new tool, one that hasn’t been available previously, one that now reflects similar tools that are in place for other countries,” he said. “It’s just bridging that gap.”