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) of the Contraventions Regulations
From: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Current status: Closed
Opened on December 9, 2022, and closed for new input on February 6, 2023.
What we heard
During the 60-day consultation, the department received the following comments.
Proposed Amendments to Schedule I.3 (Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999)
Feedback received suggested doubling the proposed fine amounts. A respondent said resources needed protection and fines should be increased. We considered this recommendation and increased the fines from $500 to $1,000.
Proposed Amendments to Schedule III.01, Part II (Migratory Birds Regulations, 2022)
Someone asked if we included Indigenous communities in the consultation. Indigenous organizations had already been invited to participate.
Another person said that the true ecological value of wildlife is undervalued and shared examples to consider. We noted these suggestions. To strengthen the deterrent effect, certain fine amounts that used to range from $100 to $500 have been increased to $1,000.
One person asked for the full list of proposed changes to Schedule III.01 and suggested improvements to the short-form descriptions that appear on tickets issued for offences. We reviewed these recommendations and shared them with legal drafters who assist in making amendments to legislation.
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 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 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.
See Table 1 for examples of proposed changes to fine amounts.
| Example | Provision in the Migratory Birds Regulations, 2022 | Description | Current fine amount | New proposed fine amount | Referring Item in the Contraventions Regulations pertaining to the Migratory Birds Regulations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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
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