GUIDELINE ON OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES 2026 (Section 5 of the Code)

Yes. Senators who hold a position in an outside organization may be identified and featured on the organization’s materials and website. As a general proposition, since the Code explicitly authorizes senators to be involved in outside activities, organizations in which senators play a role may identify those senators.

There may be occasions, however, where it would be wise for senators who are identified as such to make clear that their role in the organization is personal and not related to their senatorial position. For example, if a senator is asked to make a speech at the organization’s annual meeting, the senator may wish to make clear that they are speaking in their personal, not their senatorial, capacity.

This approach serves the interest of transparency in that the public will be informed about the senator’s outside activities. This information is already contained in senators’ public disclosures and senators can make the same information available elsewhere if they wish.

Further, the position of senator carries with it the honorific title of “Senator.” Senators may be identified by their title, not just in the course of their parliamentary duties and functions, but also when they are involved in outside activities.

Yes. Senators who hold positions in outside organizations may be featured on the websites of those organizations and identified accordingly. Senators are allowed to engage in these kinds of activities and identifying them when they do so serves the interests of transparency.

Yes. The organization can direct its website users to the senator’s website or Senate social media account. Again, this serves the interests of transparency.

Yes. The senator’s Senate website and other Senate social media accounts may provide links that will identify or describe the senator’s outside activities. Senators may also make a reference to their past and current outside activities in their biographies on their Senate website. Note, however, that senators may use Senate resources only for purposes of their parliamentary functions and in the service of the Senate.⁶

⁶ See, eg, Senate Administrative Rules, Chapter 3:01, s 1.

No. Senators must not use their Senate staff or resources for their work in an outside organization. Additional restrictions may also be found in other Senate policies and governance instruments outside the ambit of the Code.⁷

⁷ Eg, Senate Administrative Rules and the Senators’ Office Management Policy, which are interpreted and applied by the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration (CIBA).

No. A senator who holds a position in an outside organization may not make representations on behalf of the organization to governments – whether municipal, provincial, territorial, or federal -- for the solicitation of funds or for government assistance or contracts. This would be an improper use of the senator’s position to further the private interests of the organization (contrary to ss 8, 9) because the private interests of an organization should not be unduly enriched due to the senator’s involvement.

Yes. A senator who holds a position in a non-profit organization may promote the organization in their Senate role, for example, in the Senate Chamber and in Senate committees. They may extol the good work and the public interests that the organization advances and can support its efforts in a general way.

In the same vein, senators can write letters of support on behalf of a non-profit organization if they confine themselves to describing the public benefits that derive from the organization’s work. However, they should avoid seeking a particular response from the recipients of the letters – the awarding of a contract or financial assistance – because that would amount to a furthering of the organization’s private interests and may create a conflict of interest.

Senators must do three things in this situation. First, they must make a declaration of a private interest in the Senate or in a Senate committee if their association with the organization may be affected in some way by a matter before the Senate or a committee of the Senate of which they are a member (s 12(1)). Second, they must recuse themselves from any deliberations on the matter both in the Senate and in any committee of the Senate (s 13). Third, they may not vote on the matter (s 14).

Yes, and the senator can be identified and featured on materials produced by the organization, including its website (See Question (i) above).

However, fundraising by senators in their senatorial capacity is a nuanced issue that often requires a case-by-case analysis. However, when senators are involved in fundraising in their personal capacity, questions of potential conflict usually do not arise.

The following are some general principles to keep in mind when senators engage in fundraising in their senatorial role. Note also the important caveats below.

Fundraising, by its nature, is often a means of advancing a person’s or an entity’s private interests. Accordingly, it can raise issues relating to the use of a senator’s influence to further private interests. A senator cannot, when performing parliamentary functions, further their own private interests, those of their family members, or improperly further the private interests of another person or an entity (s 8). Similarly, a senator cannot use or attempt to use their position to influence another person to further their own private interests or those of their family members, or to improperly further the private interests of another person or an entity (s 9).

But fundraising by senators for truly not-for-profit organizations or charities rarely raises issues under the Code. In this context, fundraising is usually conducted to advance a public, not a private, interest. It does not raise ethical issues because there are no private interests being furthered by the fundraising. Rather, the fundraising advances a public interest, and senators are encouraged, indeed expected, to advance public interests (ss 2(a), 4), remain members of their communities, continue to be involved in community activities (s 2(2)(a)), and continue to assist members of the public (s 4).

Moreover, there are various ways in which senators can assist in fundraising for a not-for-profit or a charitable organization that, without more, do not raise any issues under the Code. For example, they may be asked to serve as the honorary chair of a fundraising campaign or to join a fundraising committee. They may be asked to be involved more directly by attending or speaking at a fundraising event, lending the prestige of their office to the campaign. They may be asked to contribute something that could be auctioned off at a charity event – a signed photograph, a hosted lunch, or a personal tour of the Senate of Canada Building.

None of these kinds of activities gives rise to any serious concerns under the Code provided they do not involve advancing the private interests of the senator or a member of their family. Further, as mentioned above, if they are carried out to advance a public interest, not a private interest, ethical issues are unlikely to arise.

In some situations, out of an abundance of caution, senators may choose to avoid any potential allegation that they are improperly furthering someone’s private interests by keeping their role as a senator and their role in fundraising clearly separate. In doing so, they should avoid conduct that could lead to a perception that they are fundraising in their capacity as a senator (for example, by refraining from identifying themselves as senators).

There are two additional caveats that must also be considered.

First, if the senator or a senator’s family member has an official role in the charity, such as membership on its Board of Directors, special care must be taken when fundraising on behalf of the organization to avoid a possible breach of the Code. Sometimes, directors have a private interest that could be furthered by a fundraising campaign. For example, they may be receiving director’s fees or an allowance for expenses that are paid out of the funds raised. These benefits could fall within the definition of “private interests” (see s 11(1)). Further, a person’s very position as a director could be advanced or sustained by virtue of the fundraising activity. Accordingly, if senators or any of their family members have an official role in an organization, senators must be careful not to engage in a fundraising campaign that would further their own or their family member’s private interests, directly or indirectly.

Second, even when acting in support of a public interest, section 8 of the Code could be engaged when senators are directly involved in soliciting funds on behalf of a not-for-profit or charitable organization. For example, donations that are made to influence senators in the performance of their parliamentary functions could raise issues under section 8. For this reason, senators engaged in fundraising must avoid creating or appearing to create a relationship of obligation between the senator and those who have donated funds. For example, senators should avoid situations where a potential donor may feel some obligation to contribute to a fundraising campaign to further their own private interests. Similarly, senators should avoid creating or appearing to create any expectation that donors could obtain preferential treatment from them in the future. Therefore, it would be prudent for senators to consider whether, in the course of their parliamentary duties and functions, they could have an impact in some way on the private interests of any potential donors. In addition, if senators currently have, or may in the foreseeable future have, official dealings with an organization or a person, they should not be placed in a situation where they are perceived to be soliciting funds from them. The most prudent course is often for senators to avoid becoming directly involved in soliciting funds or to avoid doing so with persons or entities they have, or may in the foreseeable future have, official dealings with.

Yes, subject to the qualifications and caveat below.

Senators are entitled to be involved in political activities: “political activities are an inherent and essential part of the parliamentary functions of a Senator” (Senate Administrative Rules, Chapter 1:02, s 3(b)).

Accordingly, the following activities, without more, do not raise issues under the Code. Senators may endorse electoral candidates, knock on doors on behalf of candidates, talk to Canadians and express their views during and after an election on the issues and on the candidates, and they may participate in other such campaign activities. They may also attend political events, such as rallies and fundraisers. And they may be identified as a senator when doing so.

However, the provisions of the Code may come into play when senators’ political activities involve fundraising and, in particular, when senators are personally soliciting funds.

Fundraising for a candidate or party will advance that person’s or entity’s private interests by increasing their assets or reducing their liabilities (see s 11(1)(a), (b)). Accordingly, fundraising can raise issues relating to the use of a senator’s influence for purposes of furthering a private interest. Senators cannot, when performing parliamentary functions, including political activities, further their own private interests or those of their family members (as defined in s 3(2)). In addition, senators cannot improperly further the private interests of another person or entity (s 8). Similarly, a senator cannot use or attempt to use their position to improperly further the private interests of another person or entity (s 9).

The key word in these provisions of the Code is “improperly.” What is improper depends entirely on the circumstances. It would be improper, for example, for senators to use Senate resources for political fundraising. Senators can use Senate resources only for purposes of discharging their parliamentary functions or in the service of the Senate.⁸ While the term “parliamentary functions”, as defined in the Senate Administrative Rules, includes political activities generally, it does not include some activities related to elections.⁹ Additional restrictions on the use of Senate resources in the context of political activities may also be found in other Senate policies and governance instruments, for example, in the Senators’ Office Management Policy.¹⁰ If a senator used Senate resources in a political fundraising campaign, they could be acting contrary to the Senate Administrative Rules or the Senators’ Office Management Policy.¹¹

It would also be improper for a senator to engage in political fundraising that would benefit a member of the senator’s family (even if the person does not fall within the definition of “family member” in the Code, which is limited to spouses, common-law partners, and children (s 3(2)).

It would also be improper for a senator to solicit funds from a person who is lobbying the senator on a governmental or parliamentary matter.

In some situations, out of an abundance of caution, senators may choose to avoid any potential allegation that they are improperly furthering someone’s private interests by keeping their role as a senator and their role in fundraising clearly separate. In doing so, they should avoid conduct that could lead to a perception that they are fundraising in their capacity as a senator (for example, by refraining from identifying themselves as senators).

A further caveat:¹² Senators engaged in political fundraising must avoid creating or appearing to create a relationship of obligation between the senator and those who have donated funds. For example, senators should avoid situations where a potential donor may feel some obligation to contribute to a fundraising campaign to further their own private interests. Similarly, senators should avoid creating or appearing to create any expectation that donors could obtain preferential treatment from them in the future. Therefore, it would be prudent for senators to consider whether, in the course of their parliamentary duties and functions, they could have an impact in some way on the private interests of any potential donors, which could potentially engage section 8 of the Code. In addition, if senators currently have, or may in the foreseeable future have, official dealings with an organization or a person, they should not be placed in a situation where they are perceived to be soliciting funds from them. The most prudent course is often for senators to avoid becoming directly involved in soliciting funds or to avoid doing so with persons or entities they have, or may in the foreseeable future have, official dealings with.

⁸ Senate Administrative Rules, Chapter 3:01 Allocation and Use of Senate Resources, s 1(1).
⁹ Senate Administrative Rules, Chapter 1:03 Definitions, s 1.
¹⁰ Senators’ Office Management Policy, s 5.18.1.

¹¹ These Rules and this Policy are interpreted and applied by the Standing Committee on Economy, Budgets and Administration (CIBA).
¹² This caveat (and the other guidance set out here) derives solely from the Code. There are other rules and laws relating to fundraising that sometimes come into play outside the scope of the Code, eg the Canada Elections Act. Senators may wish to contact the Senate Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel for information about other relevant rules and laws.

Yes. Senators are permitted to have outside activities, including practicing a profession, as long as they are able to comply with rules and principles of the Code.

Yes. It is acceptable for a senator to accept the position and be identified as a senator.

Yes. It is acceptable for senators to be involved in organizations in their capacity as senators when the Government of Canada requests them to do so. They may be identified as a senator in doing so.