Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (S.C. 1997, c. 13)

Marginal note:Offences related to fees and charges

46.1 Every manufacturer who contravenes subsection 42.12(1) or (2) or an order made under subsection 42.16(1) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000.

Marginal note:General offence

47 Every person who contravenes subsection 9.1(1) or (2) or 20(1), section 20.1, subsection 21(1), 22(1), 23(1) or (2), 23.1(1) or (2) or 23.2(1) or (2), section 23.3, subsection 24(1) or (2), section 25, 27, 30.1 or 30.2, subsection 30.21(1) or 30.3(1) or (2), section 30.4 or 30.41, subsection 30.42(1) or 30.43(1) or (2), section 30.44, subsection 30.45(1) or (2), 30.46(1) or (2), 30.47(1) or (2) or 30.48(1) or (2) or section 30.701 or 30.71 is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $500,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both.

Marginal note:Where no other penalty

48 Every person who contravenes a provision of this Act or the regulations for which no other penalty is provided in this Act is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $25,000.

Marginal note:Due diligence defence

48.1 A person is not to be found guilty of an offence under this Act if they establish that they exercised due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence.

Marginal note:Continuing offence

49 A person who commits or continues an offence under this Act on more than one day is liable to be convicted for a separate offence for each day on which the offence is committed or continued.

Marginal note:Offence by director or officer of corporation

50 Where a corporation commits an offence under this Act, any director or officer of the corporation who authorized or acquiesced in the offence is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to the penalty provided for by this Act in respect of the offence committed by the corporation, whether or not the corporation has been prosecuted.

Marginal note:Limitation period

51 No prosecution for a summary conviction offence under this Act may be instituted after two years after the time when the subject-matter of the proceedings arose.

Marginal note:Venue

52 A prosecution for an offence under this Act may be instituted, heard, tried and determined by a court in any jurisdiction in which the accused carries on business, regardless of where the subject-matter of the prosecution arose.

Marginal note:Exception need not be pleaded

• 53 (1) No exception, exemption, excuse or qualification prescribed by law is required to be set out or negatived, as the case may be, in an information or indictment for an offence under this Act or under section 463, 464 or 465 of the Criminal Code in respect of an offence under this Act.

• Marginal note:Proof of exemption

  (2) In a prosecution for an offence referred to in subsection (1), the burden of proving that an exception, exemption, excuse or qualification prescribed by law operates in favour of the accused is on the accused and the prosecutor is not required, except by way of rebuttal, to prove that it does not operate in favour of the accused, whether or not it is set out in the information or indictment.

Marginal note:Offence by employee or agent

54 In a prosecution for an offence under this Act, it is sufficient proof of the offence to establish that it was committed by an employee or agent of the accused, whether or not the employee or agent is identified or has been prosecuted for the offence, unless the accused establishes that the offence was committed without the knowledge or consent of the accused and that the accused exercised all due diligence to prevent its commission.

Marginal note:Certified copies and extracts

55 In a prosecution for an offence under this Act, a copy of any written or electronic information obtained during an inspection under this Act and certified by the inspector to be a true copy is admissible in evidence and is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof of its contents.

Marginal note:Certificate or report of analyst as proof

• 56 (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), a certificate or report purporting to be signed by an analyst stating that the analyst has analysed anything to which this Act applies and stating the results of the analysis, is admissible in evidence in any prosecution for an offence under this Act without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed the certificate or report.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (2) The certificate or report may not be received in evidence unless the party intending to produce it has, before the trial, given the party against whom it is intended to be produced reasonable notice of that intention together with a copy of the certificate or report.

• Marginal note:Attendance of analyst

  (3) The party against whom the certificate or report is produced may, with leave of the court, require the attendance of the analyst for the purpose of cross-examination.

Marginal note:Evidentiary presumptions

57 In a prosecution for a contravention of this Act,

• (a) information on a package indicating that it contains a tobacco product or vaping product is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof that the package contains that product; and

• (b) a name or address on a package purporting to be the name or address of the person by whom the tobacco product or vaping product was manufactured is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof that it was manufactured by that person.

Marginal note:Additional fine

58 If an offender has been convicted of an offence under this Act and the court is satisfied that as a result of the commission of the offence the offender acquired any monetary benefits or that monetary benefits accrued to the offender, the court may order the offender to pay, despite the maximum amount of any fine that may otherwise be imposed under this Act, an additional fine in an amount equal to the court’s estimation of the amount of those monetary benefits.

Marginal note:Orders of court

59 When the court is sentencing an offender who has been convicted of an offence under this Act, in addition to any other punishment that may be imposed, the court may, having regard to the nature of the offence and the circumstances surrounding its commission, make an order having any or all of the following effects:

• (a) prohibiting the offender from doing any act or engaging in any activity that is likely to result in the continuation or repetition of the offence;

• (b) prohibiting the offender from selling tobacco products and vaping products for a period of not more than one year, in the case of a subsequent offence for the contravention of subsection 8(1) or section 11, 12, 29, 30.5 or 30.6;

• (c) directing the offender to publish, in the manner directed by the court, the facts relating to the commission of the offence;

• (d) directing the offender to post any bond or pay any amount of money into court that will ensure compliance with an order made pursuant to this section;

• (e) directing the offender to compensate the Minister, in whole or in part, for the cost of any remedial or preventive action taken by or caused to be taken on behalf of the Minister as a result of the act or omission that constituted the offence; and

• (f) directing the offender to pay an amount for the purposes of conducting research into any matters relating to tobacco products and vaping products that the court considers appropriate.

PART VIIAgreements

Marginal note:Administrative agreements

• 60 (1) The Minister may enter into agreements with provinces or other bodies respecting the administration and enforcement of this Act or any provision of this Act, including the designation of provincial or other officials and bodies as inspectors under this Act and the appointment of federal officials as inspectors under provincial legislation in respect of tobacco and vaping products.

• Marginal note:Equivalency agreements

  (2) The Minister may enter into equivalency agreements with a province where there are in force, under the laws of that province, provisions that are equivalent to the provisions of this Act.

• Marginal note:Order

  (3) The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, by order, declare that certain provisions of this Act or the regulations, other than those creating an absolute prohibition, do not apply within a province in which an equivalency agreement is in force.

• Marginal note:Table in Parliament

  (4) A copy of an equivalency agreement in respect of which an order is made under subsection (3) must be tabled in each House of Parliament within the first 15 sitting days of that House after the order is made.

PART VII.1Review of the Act

Marginal note:Review of the Act

• 60.1 (1) The Minister must, three years after the day on which this section comes into force and every two years after that, undertake a review of the provisions and operation of this Act.

• Marginal note:Report to Parliament

  (2) The Minister must, no later than one year after the day on which the review is undertaken, cause a report on the review to be tabled in each House of Parliament.

PART VIIIConsequential Amendments, Repeals and Coming into Force

Consequential Amendments

61 to 63 [Amendments]

Repeals

64 and 65 [Repeals]

Coming into Force

Marginal note:Subsections 24(2) and (3)

• Footnote ^*66 (1) Subsections 24(2) and (3) come into force on October 1, 1998 or on any earlier day that the Governor in Council may fix by order.

  • Return to footnote ^*[Note: Subsections 24(2) and (3) in force October 1, 1998.]

• Marginal note:Application delayed — sponsorship before April 25, 1997

  (2) If a tobacco product-related brand element was displayed, at any time between January 25, 1996 and April 25, 1997, in promotional material that was used in the sponsorship of an event or activity that took place in Canada, subsections 24(2) and (3) do not apply until

  • (a) October 1, 2000 in relation to the display of a tobacco product-related brand element in promotional material that is used in the sponsorship of that event or activity or of a person or entity participating in that event or activity; and

  • (b) October 1, 2003 in relation to the display referred to in paragraph (a) on the site of the event or activity for the duration of the event or activity or for any other period that may be prescribed.

• Marginal note:Promotional material

  (3) Subsections 24(2) and (3) apply beginning on October 1, 2000 and ending on September 30, 2003 to prohibit the furnishing to the public, on the site of an event or activity to which paragraph (2)(b) applies, of promotional material that displays a tobacco product-related brand element otherwise than in conformity with subsection 24(2).