There are post-employment rules in the Conflict of Interest Act that you must follow after leaving public office.
Some of them apply for life. Others apply only during a “cooling-off” period that begins on your last day in office. It is two years for former ministers, and one year for former parliamentary secretaries.
You may ask the Commissioner to waive or reduce your cooling-off period under the Act. If the Commissioner decides to grant a waiver or reduction, the decision and the reasons for it will be posted in the public registry.
You are also subject to certain restrictions under the Lobbying Act. For more information, please contact the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying by email or by telephone at 613-957-2760.
Educational sessions offered by the Commissioner’s Office can help you understand the Act’s post-employment rules, as can your advisor in the Commissioner’s Office. Please call 613-995-0721 or send us an email.
After leaving public office, you must follow the Conflict of Interest Act’s general post-employment rules. You are not allowed to:
- Take improper advantage of your previous public office
- “Switch sides” on a specific proceeding, transaction, negotiation or case to which the Crown (the federal government) is a party—that is, work for or represent a person or organization on that matter after you acted for or advised the Crown on it
- Advise a client, business associate or employer using information you got while in office and that is not available to the public
These rules apply indefinitely and are not subject to any exemption, waiver or reduction.
You must also follow some extra rules during your cooling-off period (two years for former ministers and one year for former parliamentary secretaries). You are not allowed to:
- Work for, contract with or serve on the board of directors of an entity, other than a federal government or parliamentary entity, if you had direct and significant official dealings with it during your last year in public office
- Make representations on behalf of a person or entity to a department, organization, board, commission, or tribunal that you had direct and significant official dealings with during your last year in public office
- (If you’re a minister or minister of state) make representations to a current minister who was in Cabinet at the same time as you
Under section 37 of the Act, you must report to the Commissioner certain communications and meetings arranged with any of these federal officials:
- An officer or employee of any federal department or agency
- A member of the Senate or the House of Commons or a member of their staff
- A Governor in Council appointee (other than judges and provincial lieutenant governors)
- An officer, director or employee of a federal board, commission, or other tribunal
- A member of the Canadian Forces
- A member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
You must also report any meetings you arrange between a federal official listed above and any other person, by filing a section 37 return as soon as possible. You must also inform the Commissioner if any information in a section 37 return is no longer correct or if, since filing it, you have learned new information that the form requires.
Your information under the Conflict of Interest Act, including the date you started post-employment, will stay in the public registry during your cooling-off period (two years for former ministers and one year for former parliamentary secretaries).
Once your cooling-off period is over, the Commissioner’s Office will no longer make that information publicly available.
Your information under the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons will be removed from the public registry as soon as you leave Parliament, and will no longer be available from the Commissioner’s Office. The registry only contains information about sitting Members.
The same happens when a federal election is called: incumbents are no longer considered Members for purposes of the Code, so the Commissioner’s Office pulls your information under the Code from the registry (but not your information published under the Act). It will be returned to the registry if you are re-elected.
If you are a parliamentary secretary, you enter post-employment under the Act when an election is called. If you’re a minister, you stay in office until a new Cabinet is sworn in, unless you leave for another reason before then.