Thank you for that, Sébastien.
The estimate of a year is based on the number of regulations that need to be brought forward and promulgated by the Governor in Council. It also requires actually setting up an office. While the proposal in the bill is to establish it within a department, it does require staffing up an office, for example, and hiring a commissioner.
We are going to be dealing with Canadians' private data in establishing the registry. That requires a privacy impact assessment to make sure we're dealing with that data in a way that is appropriate and consistent with privacy laws. It also requires establishing an IT platform to receive information for the registry and then publishing that information back out to the Canadian public so that they can consult the database.
It will require developing guidance for Canadians in terms of expectations. For example, if we look over at our friends in the U.K., the law received royal assent last summer, in 2023. They issued guidance in February of this year that is intended to educate people on their obligations with regard to the registry.
The goal of the registry is to increase transparency. One of the key ways of doing that is by clearly communicating to Canadians who might be in arrangements with foreign states. Because it is country-agnostic, that encompasses every foreign state.
What are their obligations in terms of registering? There's a significant part of this that is educating the Canadian public on their obligations. Building in guidance will make sure people know what their obligations are.
Those are some of the steps that need to be put in place so that we have a proper functioning registry when it gets launched.