Share and view ideas: Proposed amendments to Schedule I.3 (Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999) and Schedule III.01, Part II (Migratory Birds Regulations, 2022) to the Contraventions Regulations
From: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Current status: Closed
Opened on December 9, 2022 and will close for new input on February 6, 2023.
Context
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) is seeking your comments on the proposed amendments to Schedule I.3 and Schedule III.01, Part II of the Contraventions Regulations.
Made under section 8 of the Contraventions Act, the Contraventions Regulations identify the federal offences designated as contraventions, provide the short-form descriptions of these offences and prescribe the amount of the fine for each of these contraventions. The short-form descriptions are reproduced on the tickets issued to offenders. ECCC enforcement officers can issue these tickets. This contributes to ECCC's environmental and wildlife protection objectives.
Proposed amendments to the Schedule I.3
The proposed amendments would add contravention offences related to the following regulations to Schedule I.3 of the Contraventions Regulations, related to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA):
- New Substances Notification Regulations (Organisms)
- Reduction in the Release of Volatile Organic Compounds Regulations (Petroleum Sector)
- Single-Use Plastics Prohibition Regulations
- Volatile Organic Compound Concentration Limits for Certain Products Regulations
The objective of these amendments is to designate as contraventions certain offences to allow for the enforcement, through the contraventions regime, hence by means of a contraventions ticket that can be issued to the offender by an enforcement officer. The Contraventions Regulations would specify a short-form description of each offence, including the amount of the fine, which would be reproduced on the ticket issued to the offender.
Moreover, the types of contraventions added are primarily related to offences for administrative requirements involving the preparation of reports or the regular presentation of information. The proposed fine for each offence is currently $500. However, fines in Schedule I.3 are being reviewed and are expected to be increased to $1,000 to reflect inflation.
Proposed amendments to the Schedule III.01, Part II
The proposed amendments would also update Schedule III.01, Part II of the Contraventions Regulations to replace the current provisions of the Migratory Birds Regulations (MBRs) with the new provisions of the Migratory Birds Regulations, 2022 (MBR 2022), pursuant to the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 (MBCA).
In addition, a revision of the amounts of the fines is proposed, since most amounts in the MBR had not been updated since 1997. To determine new amounts, ECCC compared fine regimes for similar offenses and adjusted for inflation using the Bank of Canada's Inflation Calculator. Secondly, ECCC considered a greater deterrent effect for the most common offenses and examined the impact of the offense on wildlife conservation. Finally, ECCC reviewed the reasonableness of the proposed amounts. The fine amounts currently set out in Schedule III.01, Part II of the Contraventions Regulations will therefore be updated to reflect the MBR 2022 scale. The amounts, which currently range from $100 to $500, would be $100 to $1,000.
In total, changes are proposed to 48 articles. See Table 1 for examples of proposed changes to fine amounts. For the complete list, please submit a request to: DGAL-EB-Consultations@ec.gc.ca.
| Example | Provision in the Migratory Birds Regulations, 2022 | Description | Current fine amount | New proposed fine amount | Refering Item in the Contraventions Regulations pertaining to the Migratory Birds Regualtions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 31(1) | Hunting migratory game birds under a permit not including conservation stamp | $100 | $150 | 1 |
| 2. | 5(1)(a) | Unlawfully capturing, killing, taking, injuring or harassing a migratory bird | $200 plus 50 per additional bird | $400 plus 50 per additional bird | 11 |
| 3. | 9 | Introducing into Canada a non-indigenous species of migratory bird without specified consent | $300 | $1,000 | 63 |
Join in: how to participate?
Please send us an email
We invite interested parties and members of the public to submit comments by email to: DGAL-EB-Consultations@ec.gc.ca
To learn how we will protect your privacy during this consultation, please carefully review our privacy statement for consultations.
Who is the focus of this consultation?
We would like to engage with:
- Provinces/Territories
- Other Federal departments and agencies
- U.S. governments
- Canadians
- Indigenous organizations
- Hunters and Hunting organizations
- Conservation organizations
- Industry Sectors
- Manufacturers or importers of living organisms or animate products of biotechnology
Contact us
Ms Deborah Carrick
A/Director Executive
Wildlife Enforcement Directorate
Enforcement Branch
Environment and Climate Change Canada
OR
Ms Françoise Twagirayezu
Director Executive
Environmental Enforcement Directorate
Enforcement Branch
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Submit comments by email to: DGAL-EB-Consultations@ec.gc.ca
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