Welcome to the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying's Online Assistance.

This tutorial has been designed as part of the education and outreach efforts of the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying. It gives a step-by-step description for entering data in order to create an account with the Lobbyists Registration System.

You must create an account before you can complete and file a disclosure with the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying.

To create an account, go to the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying's homepage at www.ocl-cal.gc.ca.Click on the "I do not have a user account" link on the top right side of the page.

You are now on the "Account Creation" page where you must choose the account type you wish to create. If you are a lobbyist or the senior paid officer of an organization or of a corporation, you may choose either the "Registrant" or the "Registrant/Representative" option. The "Registrant/Representative" account type is used by people who are registrants and who also act as a representative for managing the accounts of other registrants.

Representatives must have prior authorization from a registrant before entering data on the registrant's behalf. The same tutorial can be used for all three account types since the process to create all of these accounts is very similar.

If you are a lobbyist or the senior paid officer of an organization or of a corporation, select the"Registrant" option. For this tutorial, assume that the registrant is named Michel Lemieux, the senior paid officer of the "Cotton Producers Union / Union des producteurs de coton", a fictitious organization in British Columbia.

You are now at the "Account Creation — Step 1" screen. Enter your contact information, i.e., your last name, first name, preferred language, address, etc., and indicate whether or not you held a "DESIGNATED PUBLIC OFFICE"

with the federal government after July 2, 2008.

Designated public office holders are people who held positions as ministers, ministerial political staff, deputy ministers, associate deputy ministers, assistant deputy ministers and equivalent positions, as well as certain other senior positions designated by regulation. For a more detailed description of comparable rank positions, consult our bulletin entitled "Interpretation of "Comparable Rank" for Designated Public Offices." If you have held one of these positions, enter the last day on which you held the position. You can enter the date directly using the year-month-day format, or by using the calendar.

Next, if you were identified, after January 24, 2006, to have been part of the Prime Minister's Transition Team, select "Yes" on the drop-down list and specify an end date for the position.

For our tutorial, you were not part of a transition team. Select "No" on the drop-down list and leave the date blank.

If you were a designated public office holder and have been granted an exemption from the five-year prohibition on lobbying by the Commissioner of Lobbying, you must enter your exemption number.

Ensure that the information entered is correct. Then click the "Save and Continue" button to go to the next step.

You are now at step 2 to create an account. Enter a username and password of your choice. The username must be unique and will allow the registration system to recognize you. If the username you created already exists, you must choose a different one. It is important that the password be used only by the registrant since it will be used to certify lobbying disclosures. Passwords and usernames must be at least six characters long and are case-sensitive.

Enter your username. The password should be easy to remember and must be kept secret.

If you forget your password, you can always recover it. To do so, you will need to select a secret question from the list of available questions or create your own secret question. For example, the question chosen could be "What is the name of your first pet?" Make sure you provide an answer that is easy to remember.

To save the information and go to the final step, click the "Save and Continue" button.

You have now reached the third and final step in creating your account.

You will need to print, read and sign the "Registrant User Agreement" and send it by mail or fax to the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying. The form is available in two formats: HTML and PDF. The PDF form can be e-mailed to the address you provided in step 1 when you created your account.

For example, suppose you select and print the PDF version.

There are four pages to the "Registrant User Agreement". Take the time to review it carefully and to fill out the form.

Remember that for an organization or a corporation, the registrant is the most senior officer. In addition, Part B of the "Registrant User Agreement" allows the registrant to authorize another person (the representative) to deal with the Office of the Commissioner on his or her behalf.

The form must be signed by the registrant before it is faxed to the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying at 613-957-3078 or sent by mail.

Our representatives will review your "Registrant User Agreement" and activate your account as rapidly as possible. If information is missing or appears inaccurate, the Commissioner of Lobbying may seek clarifications from you, which could delay the activation of your account.

Once your account is activated, you will receive an e-mail and will then be able to start entering information about your lobbying activities.

If you have any comments or questions about this tutorial, please contact us by phone at 613-957-2760 or by e-mail at QuestionsLobbying@ocl-cal.gc.ca. You can also visit our website at www.ocl-cal.gc.ca.