Lobby Wrap: Canada’s planners ramp up pressure on housing, infrastructure

The latest from the federal lobbyist registry.

Canada’s planners are making a concerted push on Parliament Hill, seeking federal support to help municipalities coordinate zoning and housing approvals as Ottawa looks to ramp up homebuilding across the country.

The Canadian Institute of Planners, a member-based organization for planning professionals across fields like land use planning, environmental resource management, land development and heritage conservation, saw six lobbyists newly registered on its behalf.

The group’s lobbying spans several of the government’s major policy priorities, including housing infrastructure, economic growth and climate resilience. Among its asks are funding to strengthen coordination of municipal plans, zoning and approvals, and improving access to federal infrastructure funding to under-resourced communities.

Meanwhile, Pallium Canada, a non-profit focused on providing palliative care education, saw two lobby registrations this week. The organization is seeking federal support to strengthen palliative care capacity, including through educationa nd professional development for health-care providers and support for caregivers and long-term care.

The lobbying comes after Pallium called on Ottawa in May to invest $300 million over five years to support a campaign aimed at ensuring long-term care staff have adequate training.

TikTok also returned to the federal lobbying circuit, with privacy and online safety among the issues on its agenda. Its lobbying includes discussions around the government’s proposed Safe Social Media Act, which would prohibit children under 16 from the platform.

Overall, lobbying levels remain high with Indigenous registrations leading the way with nine per cent of registrations

New Registrations

Since Aug. 8, The Canadian Institute of Planners was the most registered organization, with six unique registrations.

Over that span, Sandstone Group Inc. and PAA Advisory led all registrant groups with five unique registrations each.

From Aug. 8-14, Dev Singh from Sandstone Group Inc., led all lobbyists with four unique registrations each.

In recent agriculture/trade registrants:

Vegpro International Inc. was registered in-house by Anthony Fantin, their president and CEO, to discuss a strategic response fund allocation for Canadian food processors.

Other: Canadian Wood Pallet and Container Association, Stella-Jones Inc.

In recent arts/culture/copyright registrants:

Art Windsor-Essex was registered by Jessica Fisher and Sean Casey, PAA Advisory, to facilitate meetings with officials to advocate for funding for infrastructure projects with the client from Build Community Strong Fund, Direct Delivery Stream.

Other: Alberta Ballet, Live Nation Entertainment Canada, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vertigo Theatre Society

In recent defence/security registrants:

Marconi Technologies was registered by Paul Fortin, a consultant with The Fortin Consulting Group, to raise its profile with the government and DND officials as a sovereign manufacturer of voice, data, and radio communication systems.

Other: 49North, L3Harris Technologies Canada Inc., Lastwall Networks, Inc., Leonardo Canada, Patlon Aircraft & Industries Limited

In recent energy/environment/climate registrants:

Stormfisher Hydrogen was registered by Robyn Gray, a consultant with Sussex Strategy Group, to make a determination under the Clean Hydrogen ITC to align with European standards, enable carbon capture utilization for fuels in the federal CCUS Tax Credit, as well as to discuss expanding the Clean Hydrogen ITC to include methanol equipment reforming carbon intensity. The client also sought to advocate for the government to recognize ≥90% renewable grids in federal carbon intensity rules.

Other: Nova Scotia Power Inc, Woodfibre LNG Ltd, Emissions Reduction Alberta, Fleet Zer

In recent health registrants:

Pallium Canada was registered by Barbara Barrett and Jackson Cardillo, both consultants with Impact Public Affairs, to communicate with federal public office holders regarding policies, programs, and potential grants or contributions to strengthen palliative care capacity in Canada. This includes support for palliative care education and professional development for health and care providers, health human resource readiness, caregiver and long-term care supports, and research and evaluation related to improving access to quality palliative care for people living with life-limiting illness and their families.

Other: 1001085696 Ontario Inc. (operating as Synergex Pharma Inc.), Group Jamp Pharma, RAREi – The Canadian Forum for Rare Disease Innovators

In recent Indigenous registrants:

Leq’á:mel First Nation was registered by Derrick Araneda, a consultant with S&A Strategies, to engage elected officials and government policy-makers on its Nickaamen Colonial Reserve Specific Claim.

Other: First Nations Finance Authority, Iskum Investments General Partner Inc., Mosquito Grizzly Bears Head Lean Man First Nation, Otipemisiwak Métis Government – District Council of Fort McMurray Métis District, Self-Governing Indigenous Governments, Yukon First Nation Education Directorate

In recent industry registrants:

Silvacom Ltd. was registered by Jim Pimblett, a consultant with Catalyze4, to pursue the adoption of the client’s stakeholder relationship management software by federal public sector organizations.

Other: Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia

Tech/Telecommunications

Canadian Prepaid Providers Organization (CPPO) was registered by Aimee Tymkin, a consultant with PAA Advisory. The primary focus of their lobbying efforts was to discuss legislation related to the prepaid payments industry in Canada, including the Canadian Payments Act, and upcoming legislation to enable the Retail Payments Oversight Framework and the development of Canada’s Open Banking system. Additionally, the client sought to advance policy and regulatory considerations related to Canada’s prepaid payment card market with respect to Financial Literacy, Consumer Protection, Open Banking and the Retail Payments Oversight Framework, and security and anti-money laundering.

Transportation:

The Shipping Federation of Canada was registered by Dev Singh, a consultant with The Sandstone Group Inc., primarily for discussions with the CBSA pertaining to enforcement of the requirement that all ships with import containers on board must stop at one of five designated container ports in order to have the containers scanned for radiation, the ability of vessels destined to the Arctic to report cargo and conveyance information electronically rather than having to deviate to a designated CBSA port, the assignment of a carrier code to foreign ocean carriers and issuance of bonds, implementation of maritime single window concept in Canada, and governance and financing of container examination centers. Additional meetings were held around strengthening the Port System and Railway Safety in Canada, with respect to increasing the efficiency, resilience and security of the marine transportation system.

Other: Railo Technology Canada Inc.

Of note: adMare BioInnovations, AP Group, Best Medicines Coalition, Black National Funders Intermediary Network (BNFIN), British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, Canadian Institute of Planners, Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (CIQS), Canadian Lenders Association, Canadian Parents for French, Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine, City of Cambridge, Encore Global Events (Canada) ULC, Gillfor Distribution Inc, Hullmark Developments Ltd., Kraft Heinz Canada, Meridian Credit Union, MiQro Innovation Collaborative Center (C2Mi), Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec, Polaris Advantage Inc., Promise Robotics Inc., Publicus Technologies Inc., Quantum Industry Canada, Québec Coalition Against Trafficking in Persons, RJH Architecture & Planning + BuildingIN, Sovereign Digital Infrastructure Corp., Temiscaming Precision Industries Inc., TikTok Technology Canada Inc, VELYON Group Inc., Yukon University

Communications:

There were 587 communication reports filed during the period between Aug. 8-14.

Most active client organizations

University of Calgary – 37 Communications
Quebec’s Federation of Chambers of Commerce – 21 Communications
British Columbia Institute of Technology – 18 Communications
Western Canadian Shippers’ Coalition – 16 Communications
Mitsubishi Canada Ltd. – 15 Communications

Most active paid lobbyists

Edward McCauley for 1 Client – 37 Communications
Véronique Proulx for 1 Client – 21 Communications
Tony Valeri for 2 Clients – 19 Communications
Rose Butler for 4 Clients – 18 Communications
Jeff Zabudsky for 1 Client – 18 Communications

Most lobbied public office holders

Tim Hodgson – Natural Resources Canada (9)
Cédrick Devedeux Delorme – Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (9)
Patrick Hum – Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (8)
Varun Srivatsan – Finance Canada (7)
Nathan Abdelnour – Canadian Heritage (7)

Most lobbied government institutions