The government's foreign influence registry requires those working on behalf of foreign governments or entities to influence domestic politics to report their behaviour or face fines of up to $1-million.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
The Canadian government’s foreign influence registry will come into force in early August, bringing into being a long-promised, long-delayed tool for tracking the activities of agents of foreign states.
An order-in-council recently issued by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet reveals for the first time that the government has fixed Aug. 4 as the date. People and entities working on behalf of foreign states in Canada would have 60 days from then to register any existing arrangements.
Anton Boegman, former chief electoral officer of British Columbia, will begin his job as the Foreign Influence Transparency Commissioner on the same day. Mr. Boegman will deliver reports to the Minister of Public Safety who will then table them in the House of Commons. His appointment was announced by Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree earlier this year.
The registry, an attempt to curb undue foreign influence, requires those working on behalf of foreign governments or entities to influence domestic politics to report their behaviour or face fines of up to $1-million. This includes work to influence federal, provincial, territorial and municipal politics.
The Carney government has faced criticism over the past year for allegedly dragging its feet on the registry, which was a significant part of Ottawa’s response to concerns about foreign influence that came to light in the 2024 Hogue Inquiry hearings.
The government gave notice, however, that for now it is not applying the registry requirements to those seeking to influence Indigenous bands, councils or governments. The June 22 order-in-council offered no explanation for this.
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It was former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s government that passed the law to create a foreign agent registry in June, 2024, and promised it would be set up within one year. Mr. Trudeau left politics in early 2025, and the Carney government’s delays in enacting the registry had raised concerns about diaspora groups being targeted by foreign interference.
Under its rules, anyone “who enters into an arrangement with a foreign principal” to influence government policies, legislation, elections, contracts or referendums must file notice with the federal registry within 14 days.
This includes communicating with a public office holder or disseminating related information, including through social media, distributing money “or items of value,” or providing a service or use of a facility.
After the registry comes into force, anyone with existing arrangements with foreign governments has 60 days to register, according to the legislation’s transitional provisions.
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Canada remains committed to countering foreign interference “in all its forms” in this country, Mr. Anandasangaree’s office said on Thursday.
“The official appointment of Anton Boegman as Foreign Influence Transparency Commissioner on Aug. 4, and the implementation of the Foreign Influence Transparency Registry, mark important steps in our work to protect Canadians,” Simon Lafortune, press secretary to the Public Safety Minister, said in a statement.
He said Canada will ensure “attempts to influence our democratic institutions on behalf of foreign interests are met with vigilance and accountability.”
The United States has had a foreign agent registry since 1938. Australia set one up in 2018, and Britain passed legislation creating one in 2023, though it only came into force in 2025.
The Trudeau government tabled the Foreign Influence Transparency Registry legislation amid fallout from media attention to Chinese foreign interference in Canadian domestic politics. That reporting led to a public inquiry, headed by then-justice Marie-Josée Hogue. She is now the Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General of Canada.
In her first inquiry report in May, 2024, she issued a call for the government to vigorously enact measures to tackle what she called a “malign” threat to Canadian democracy.
She described foreign interference as a “stain on our electoral process” that discourages diaspora communities from participating in Canadian democracy.
Ms. Hogue identified China as the “most persistent and sophisticated foreign interference threat to Canada.” She also cited India, saying intelligence revealed a “Government of India proxy agent” may have attempted to clandestinely funnel money to candidates in 2021.
The government estimated earlier this year there are more than 2,400 individuals or businesses in Canada currently working on behalf of a “foreign principal” for the purpose of “conducting influence activities targeting Canada’s political or governmental processes.”
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All registrants must provide information about the foreign principal, including name, primary civic address, website address, and the full name, position title, telephone number, and e-mail address of the foreign principal’s primary representative, according to regulations published June 22. They must also provide a description of the arrangement, including its start and end dates, any compensation or other benefit provided by the foreign principal, the political or governmental process the arrangement relates to, and the types of influence activities to be carried out.
For influence activities involving the dissemination of information or the provision of benefits, registrants must also identify the target of those activities – for example, public office holders, groups of Canadians, or private or non-profit organizations. They must provide the foreign principal’s stated objective under the arrangement.
For social media, they must identify platforms, usernames, and the names and URLs of any forums, groups, threads, communities, or channels used. For television and radio they must name the networks or stations; for recorded audio or visual content they must provide titles and platform names; for publications they must provide names.
For activities involving the provision of money, registrants must provide the estimated maximum value of any single distribution and the estimated total value of all distributions. For items of value, they must describe the items and provide the estimated maximum value per item and the estimated total value. For services, they must describe the services and provide estimated maximum and total values. For the use of facilities, they must describe the purposes for which the facilities are to be used.
Editor’s note: Due to an error in editing, an earlier version of this article inadvertently implied that Marie-Josée Hogue is Attorney General of Canada. She is Deputy Attorney General. This version has been corrected. This article has also been updated to clarify Mr. Boegman's reporting relationship to the Minister of Public Safety.