Foreign influence commissioner expects registration to increase as awareness grows

Foreign Influence Transparency Commissioner Anton Boegman prepares to appear before the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, studying the implementation of the foreign influence transparency registry, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang)

OTTAWA — Canada’s foreign influence transparency commissioner suggests it’s too early to tell whether people are complying with new obligations to report information to his office.

Commissioner Anton Boegman told MPs on a House of Commons committee today his office’s focus to date has been on contacting individuals and organizations who may be required to register their activities.

People are required by law to provide information to Boegman’s office when they enter an arrangement with a foreign principal that involves activities intended to influence a Canadian political or governmental process.

They must register within 14 days of entering such an arrangement, and if the arrangement existed before Aug. 4 of this year and continued after, they had until last Saturday to file.

In a notice published early this year, the federal government said it expected about 1,767 registrants would submit information annually, with an additional 54 new registrants each year.

Only two registrations are listed on the commissioner’s website, though Boegman says his office received about 30 submissions to the registry over the weekend.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2026.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press