Meals are considered to be gifts. All gifts given or promised by a lobbyist to a public office holder the lobbyist is lobbying must be declared in the lobbyist’s Registration Return. This includes gifts that meet the exception test. A gift given or promised but not declared is a contravention of the LTA, including those that are incidental to protocol or social obligations and under the $100 limit.

Only things that are considered gifts need to be declared.

For events where food, beverages, entertainment, or other hospitality will be provided, lobbyists must determine the value of what is offered to each public office holder invited to the event by taking into account the total cost of the event (including venue rental costs, food/catering costs, bar/beverage costs, service costs, music or entertainment costs, transportation costs, and any other costs involved in hosting the event) and then dividing that total cost by the total number of people invited to attend.