Foreign Influence Transparency Regulations

Summary#

These are the final Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Regulations: SOR/2026-152, published in the Canada Gazette on July 1, 2026. They set out what information people and organizations must give when they make arrangements to carry out influence activities for a foreign principal, create rules for a public registry, and establish penalties for non‑compliance.

What it does#

• Defines who counts as a public office holder for this regime and which everyday government activities are excluded from reporting.
• Requires people or organizations that enter into an arrangement with a foreign principal to give the Commissioner specific identifying and activity details. Updates to that information must be provided within 14 days of any change.
• Specifies what parts of those submissions are made public in the registry and allows the Commissioner to withhold information that is false, misleading, or that would threaten an individual’s safety.
• Requires the Commissioner to keep registry records for 20 years after an arrangement ends.
• Allows certain government bodies (for example, institutions listed under the Privacy Act, the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections, and the Canadian Armed Forces) to share information with the Commissioner and permits the Commissioner to share information with similar partners under privacy safeguards.
• Creates an administrative penalty range from $250 up to $1,000,000 for violations and lists factors the Commissioner must consider when deciding penalty amounts.
• Permits the Commissioner to offer compliance agreements (reduced or no penalty if the person meets conditions), sets how notices are served (presumed served after 10 days), and allows delegation of certain duties.

Who's affected#

• Individuals and organizations that enter into arrangements with a foreign principal to influence Canadian political or government processes. The government’s analysis estimates about 2,422 affected people and businesses in total.
• The federal government and the new enforcement office, the Office of the Foreign Influence Commissioner of Canada (OFICC), which will run the registry and handle investigations. The Government of Canada is estimated to incur about $29.41M in costs to set up and run the office and IT system between 2026 and 2035.
• Registrants (businesses, non-profits, universities, paid and unpaid individuals) are estimated to incur about $1.65M in compliance costs over the same period.
• Small businesses are expected to be the largest group among affected businesses, with about 1,009 small businesses estimated to be impacted (average net cost per small business estimated in the regulatory analysis).

Why it matters#

• The rules aim to make foreign influence activities more visible to the public so Canadians can see who is trying to influence government decisions and how.
• There is a real compliance cost and reporting burden for people and organizations that deal with foreign principals, and the public registry raises privacy and safety trade-offs for individuals named in filings.
• The government estimates quantified benefits (mainly through assumed economic gains from increased transparency) of $37.11M over 2026–2035 and a net benefit of $6.05M after costs; these are modelled estimates with important uncertainties.
• Penalties can be substantial (up to $1,000,000), so organizations that work with foreign principals need to assess whether their activities now require registration and prompt updates (within 14 days) to avoid fines.