Impact Assessment Act (S.C. 2019, c. 28, s. 1)

Review of Orders

Marginal note:Request for review

• 130 (1) Any person or entity to whom an order is given under section 127 or 128 may, by notice in writing given to the President of the Agency within 30 days after the day on which the person or entity receives a copy of the order, make a request to the President for a review of the order.

• Marginal note:Extension of period for request

  (2) The President of the Agency may extend the period within which a request for a review may be made if, in the President’s opinion, it is in the public interest to do so.

Marginal note:Review

131 On receipt of a request made under subsection 130(1), the President of the Agency must designate an individual as a review officer to review the order.

Marginal note:No automatic stay on review

• 132 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the request for a review of an order does not suspend the operation of an order.

• Marginal note:Suspension on application

  (2) A review officer may, on application made by a person or entity to whom an order is given, suspend the operation of the order if the review officer considers it appropriate and, in that case, impose on all persons or entities subject to the order conditions that are reasonable in the circumstances and consistent with the protection of the environment, human life or health or public safety.

• Marginal note:Duration of suspension

  (3) If the operation of an order is suspended under subsection (2), the period for which the order is issued is suspended until the review is completed.

Marginal note:Evidence

• 133 (1) A review officer may order any person to give evidence in writing or produce any documents and things that the review officer considers relevant for the purpose of performing any of their functions.

• Marginal note:Enforcement of orders

  (2) Any order made under subsection (1) may be made an order of the Federal Court or of the superior court of a province and is enforceable in the same manner as an order of that court.

• Marginal note:Procedure

  (3) An order made under subsection (1) may be made an order of the Federal Court or of the superior court of a province by following the usual practice and procedure of the court in such matters, or by filing a certified copy of the order with the registrar of the court.

Marginal note:Powers of review officer

134 A review officer, after considering the order under review and giving all persons or entities who are subject to it a reasonable opportunity to make representations, may

• (a) confirm or cancel the order;

• (b) amend or suspend a condition of the order, add a condition to it or delete a condition from it; or

• (c) extend the order’s duration.

Marginal note:Decision

• 135 (1) A review officer must render a written decision, with reasons, and provide all persons or entities to whom the order was given and the President of the Agency with a copy of the decision and the reasons.

• Marginal note:Duty to comply with revised order

  (2) Any person or entity that is subject to an order confirmed or varied under section 134 must comply with the order.

Marginal note:Immunity

136 No action or other proceeding of a civil nature may be brought against a review officer in respect of anything that is done or omitted to be done in good faith while exercising their powers or performing their duties or functions under this Act.

Marginal note:Rules

137 The Agency may make rules

• (a) governing the practice and procedure for the review of orders;

• (b) generally, respecting the work of review officers; and

• (c) for preventing trade secrets and information described in section 20 of the Access to Information Act from being disclosed or made public as a result of their being used as evidence before a review officer.

Federal Court

Marginal note:Appeal to Federal Court

138 The Minister or any person or entity to whom an order, as confirmed or varied by a review officer, is directed may, by filing a written notice of appeal within 30 days after the day on which the written reasons are provided by the review officer under section 135, appeal to the Federal Court from the review officer’s decision.

Marginal note:Order not suspended

139 The filing of a notice of appeal under section 138 does not suspend the operation of an order, as confirmed or varied by a review officer.

Injunctions

Marginal note:Court’s power

• 140 (1) If, on the Minister’s application, it appears to a court of competent jurisdiction that a person or entity has done, is about to do or is likely to do any act constituting or directed toward the commission of an offence under this Act, the court may issue an injunction ordering the person or entity who is named in the application to

  • (a) refrain from doing an act that, in the court’s opinion, may constitute or be directed toward the commission of the offence; or

  • (b) do an act that, in the court’s opinion, may prevent the commission of the offence.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (2) No injunction is to be issued under subsection (1) unless 48 hours’ notice is served on the party or parties who are named in the application or unless the urgency of the situation is such that service of notice would not be in the public interest.

Voluntary Reports

Marginal note:Voluntary reports

• 141 (1) If a person has knowledge of the commission or reasonable likelihood of the commission of an offence under this Act, but is not required to report the matter under this Act, the person may report any information relating to the offence or likely offence to an enforcement officer or the Agency.

• Marginal note:Request for confidentiality

  (2) The person making the report may request that their identity, and any information that may reveal their identity, not be disclosed.

• Marginal note:Due diligence

  (3) An enforcement officer and the Agency must exercise all due diligence to not disclose the identity of a person who makes a request under subsection (2) or any information that may reveal their identity.

• Marginal note:Prohibition

  (4) A person not referred to in subsection (3), or an entity, must not disclose the identity of a person who makes a request under subsection (2) or any information that may reveal that person’s identity unless that person authorizes the disclosure in writing.

• Marginal note:Employee protection

  (5) Despite any other Act of Parliament, an employer must not dismiss, suspend, demote, discipline, harass or otherwise disadvantage an employee, or deny an employee a benefit of employment, with the intent to retaliate against the employee because the employee has

  • (a) made a report under subsection (1);

  • (b) acting in good faith and on the basis of reasonable belief, refused or stated an intention of refusing to do anything that is an offence under this Act; or

  • (c) acting in good faith and on the basis of reasonable belief, done or stated an intention of doing anything that is required to be done by or under this Act.

Prohibitions and Offences

Marginal note:Obstruction

142 A person or entity must not obstruct or hinder an enforcement officer or analyst who is exercising their powers or performing their duties or functions under this Act.

Marginal note:False statements or information

143 A person or entity must not make a false or misleading statement or provide false or misleading information in connection with any matter under this Act to any person who is exercising their powers or performing their duties or functions under this Act.

Marginal note:Offences

• 144 (1) Every person or entity commits an offence that

  • (a) contravenes section 7, subsection 122(5), 125(3), 129(1), 135(2) or 141(4) or (5) or section 142 or 143;

  • (b) contravenes a condition established under subsection 64(2) or added or amended under section 68 with which the person or entity must comply; or

  • (c) omits to provide to the Minister information required to be provided under subsection 72(1).

• Marginal note:Penalty — individuals

  (2) Every individual who commits an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction

  • (a) for a first offence, to a fine of not less than $5,000 and not more than $300,000; and

  • (b) for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine of not less than $10,000 and not more than $600,000.

• Marginal note:Penalty — small revenue corporations or entities

  (3) Every corporation or entity that commits an offence under subsection (1) and that the court determines under section 145 to be a small revenue corporation or entity is liable on summary conviction

  • (a) for a first offence, to a fine of not less than $25,000 and not more than $2,000,000; and

  • (b) for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine of not less than $50,000 and not more than $4,000,000.

• Marginal note:Penalty — other corporations or entities

  (4) Every corporation or entity, other than a corporation or entity referred to in subsection (3), that commits an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction

  • (a) for a first offence, to a fine of not less than $100,000 and not more than $4,000,000; and

  • (b) for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine of not less than $200,000 and not more than $8,000,000.

Marginal note:Determination of small revenue corporation or entity status

145 For the purpose of subsection 144(3), a court may determine a corporation or entity to be a small revenue corporation or entity if the court is satisfied that the gross revenues of the corporation or entity for the 12 months immediately before the day on which the subject matter of the proceedings arose — or, if it arose on more than one day, for the 12 months immediately before the first day on which the subject matter of the proceedings arose — were not more than $5,000,000.

Marginal note:Continuing offences

• 146 (1) If an offence of contravening section 7, subsection 129(1) or 135(2) or section 142, or an offence under paragraph 144(1)(b), is committed or continued on more than one day, it constitutes a separate offence for each day on which it is committed or continued.

• Marginal note:Due diligence defence

  (2) A person or entity must not be found guilty of an offence for a contravention of section 7, subsection 129(1) or 135(2) or section 142, or of an offence under paragraph 144(1)(b), if they establish that they exercised due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence.

Marginal note:Liability of senior officers

147 If a corporation or entity commits an offence under this Act, any senior officer, as defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code, of the corporation or entity who directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced in or participated in the commission of the offence is a party to and guilty of the offence, and is liable on conviction to the penalty provided for by this Act for an individual in respect of the offence committed by the corporation or entity, whether or not the corporation or entity has been prosecuted.

Marginal note:Duties of senior officers

148 Every senior officer, as defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code, of a corporation or entity must take all reasonable care to ensure that the corporation or entity complies with this Act and any order issued by an enforcement officer or review officer.

Marginal note:Limitation period or prescription

149 Proceedings by way of summary conviction in respect of an offence under this Act may be instituted at any time within two years after the day on which the Minister becomes aware of the acts or omissions that constitute the alleged offence.

Marginal note:Admissibility of evidence

• 150 (1) In proceedings for an offence under this Act, a statement, certificate, report or other document of the Minister, an officer or employee of the Agency, an enforcement officer or an analyst that is purported to have been signed by that person is admissible in evidence without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed it and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, is proof of the matters asserted in it.

• Marginal note:Copies and extracts

  (2) In proceedings for an offence under this Act, a copy of or an extract from any document that is made by the Minister, an officer or employee of the Agency, an enforcement officer or an analyst that appears to have been certified under the signature of that person as a true copy or extract is admissible in evidence without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed it and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, has the same probative force as the original would have if it were proved in the ordinary way.

• Marginal note:Presumed date of issue

  (3) A document referred to in this section is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, presumed to have been issued on the date that it bears.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (4) No document referred to in this section may be received in evidence unless the party intending to produce it has provided reasonable notice of that intention to the party against whom it is intended to be produced together with a copy of the document.

Marginal note:Notice to shareholders

151 If a corporation that has shareholders is convicted of an offence under this Act, the court must make an order directing the corporation to notify its shareholders, in the manner and within the time directed by the court, of the facts relating to the commission of the offence and of the details of the punishment imposed.

Publication

Marginal note:Power

152 The Agency must publish, in the manner it considers appropriate,

• (a) information or a document provided by a proponent to comply with a condition established under section 64 or added or amended under section 68;

• (b) a summary of a report that an enforcement officer or analyst may prepare in the exercise of their powers or the performance of their duties and functions under sections 122 to 125;

• (c) a notice of non-compliance referred to in section 126;

• (d) a written order issued by an enforcement officer in accordance with section 127 or by a review officer under section 134; or

• (e) a decision rendered under section 135.

Impact Assessment Agency of Canada

Marginal note:Agency continued

• 153 (1) The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency is continued as the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. The Impact Assessment Agency must advise and assist the Minister in exercising the powers and performing the duties and functions conferred on him or her by this Act.

• Marginal note:Minister’s responsibility

  (2) The Minister is responsible for the Agency. The Minister may not, except as provided in this Act, direct the President of the Agency or its employees, or any review panel members, with respect to a report, decision, order or recommendation to be made under this Act.

Marginal note:Delegation to Agency

• 154 (1) The Minister may, subject to any terms and conditions that the Minister specifies, delegate to an officer or employee of the Agency any of the powers, duties and functions that the Minister is authorized to exercise or perform under this Act.

• Marginal note:Restriction

  (2) However, the Minister is not authorized to delegate a power to make regulations or a power to delegate under subsection (1).