After leaving public office, you are not allowed to:
- Act in a way to take improper advantage of your previous office
- “Switch sides” on a specific legal matter, transaction, negotiation or case to which the Crown (the government) is a party—that is, work for or represent a person or organization on that same matter after you worked for or advised the government on it
- Give advice to clients, business associates or employers using information you obtained in office and that is not available to the public
These rules apply for life.
You must also comply with a one-year “cooling-off” period following your last day in public office. During this period, you are not allowed to:
- Enter into a service contract with, accept an appointment to the board of directors of, or accept an offer of employment with any organization—other than a federal government or parliamentary entity—that you had direct and significant official dealings with during your last year in office
- Make representations on behalf of a person or entity to a department, organization, board, commission or tribunal with which you had direct and significant official dealings during your last year in office
Over the course of this year, you must also report to the Commissioner any communication or meeting as defined in paragraphs 5(1)(a) and (b) of the Lobbying Act.
An information notice issued by the Commissioner explains the post-employment rules in greater detail.
You are also subject to certain restrictions under the Lobbying Act. For more information, please contact the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying email or at 613-957-2760.
Your information under the Conflict of Interest Act, including the date you started post-employment, will stay in the public registry during your one-year cooling-off period.
Once your cooling-off period is over, the Commissioner’s Office will no longer make that information publicly available.