Enterprise Rent-A-Car Canada fined $1 million for Fisheries Act violation

April 6, 2023 – Montréal, Quebec – Environment and Climate Change Canada

On April 4, 2023, Enterprise Rent-A-Car Canada was ordered by the Court of Quebec to pay $1 million after pleading guilty in the Montréal courthouse to one count of violating the Fisheries Act. The conviction is the result of a gasoline spill that occurred on January 4, 2021. The Government of Canada Environmental Damages Fund will receive 100 percent of the fine, which will go toward projects that have a positive impact on Canada’s natural environment.

On January 14, 2021, Environment and Climate Change Canada's Enforcement Branch launched an investigation after receiving reports of a fuel spill at the company's service centre, located on Jean-Paul Laframboise Street in Dorval, Quebec. The investigation determined that during a delivery of over 20,000 litres of regular gasoline, the fuel was transferred into a 5,000-litre gasoline trap, due largely to the negligence of the car rental company. The incident was caused by a lack of proper filling-pipe identification, insufficient supervision during delivery, and the absence of leak-detection procedures.

This incident resulted in the discharge of approximately 15,000 litres of gasoline into the site's storm sewer system, eventually reaching the fish-bearing waters of Bouchard Creek, which flow into Lake Saint-Louis. Depositing a deleterious substance in water frequented by fish, or in any place where the substance may enter any such water, is a violation of the Fisheries Act.

As a result of this conviction, the company’s name will be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry. The Registry contains information on convictions of corporations registered for offences committed under certain federal environmental laws.

Quick facts

• The waters of Bouchard Creek and Lake Saint-Louis are frequented by fish, as defined in the Fisheries Act. The lake is a widening of the Saint Lawrence River and contains several species of fish including minnows, Silver Redhorse, walleye, and Northern Pike.
• Environment and Climate Change Canada is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the pollution prevention provisions of the Fisheries Act, which prohibit the deposit of deleterious substances into water frequented by fish.
• Created in 1995, the Environmental Damages Fund is a Government of Canada program administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada. The Fund helps ensure that court-awarded penalties are used to support projects that restore the natural environment and conserve wildlife. The Fund receives and redirects the money from court penalties and settlements, usually investing in areas where the environmental damage occurred.

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