Notice of intent - Proposal to designate certain offences of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act and related regulations as contraventions

Introduction

This notice provides an opportunity for interested parties to give their feedback on regulatory measures under consideration. The proposal would amend Schedule XIV of the Contraventions Regulations (made under the Contraventions Act) to designate certain offences of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (TVPA) and its regulations as contraventions, in order to provide an additional enforcement tool.

Background

Enacted in 1992, the Contraventions Act provides a procedure for the prosecution of federal regulatory offences designated as contraventions. This simplified procedure allows enforcement authorities to initiate the prosecution of a contravention by means of a ticket which can be paid voluntarily, or challenged by the offender before the provincial court of the jurisdiction where the offence was committed. This ticketing procedure can be a more reasonable and effective approach to enforce minor offences, and provides for fines that are more proportionate to the seriousness of these offences.

Made under the Contraventions Act, the Contraventions Regulations identify the federal offences that are designated as contraventions, provide a short-form description of these offences and prescribe the amount of the fine for each of these contraventions. Formal court processes, as set out in the Criminal Code (i.e. summary conviction or indictment), continue to be used for more serious offences or where deemed more appropriate in particular circumstances.

Schedule XIV of the Contraventions Regulations designates 10 offences of the TVPA, with fines ranging from $100 to $500. However, these designations were made in 1999 at the time the Act was called the Tobacco Act.

Since 1999, a few of these designations have become obsolete due to amendments to the Act and need to be updated.

Regulatory proposal

Health Canada, working with Justice Canada, is considering amending the part of the Contraventions Regulations related to the TVPA to update current wording and designate other infractions as contraventions. Such amendments provide inspectors with an additional enforcement tool and are expected to help improve the compliance with the TVPA and its regulations.

In addition, fines would be increased for some existing contraventions. The applicable fines would range from $100 to $2000 for new and existing offences.

A number of new offences relating to tobacco and vaping to be designated as contraventions are under consideration. Furnishing a vaping product to a young person, not providing the reports as prescribed by the regulations, promoting tobacco or vaping products through testimonial or endorsement, labelling or selling a vaping product packaged as having a nicotine concentration of more than 20mg/mL and advertising a vaping product or a vaping product-related brand element in a non-compliant manner are examples of offences that might be designated as contraventions.

The new offences that would be designated as contraventions are mostly linked to reporting, labelling and promotional restrictions. Those offences are provided under the TVPA and the following Regulations:

This is provided for information only. Whether some or all of the examples provided above are ultimately designated as contraventions remains to be determined.

This consultation with respect to contraventions is conducted by Health Canada as the department responsible for the enforcement of the TVPA and its regulations. The result of this consultation will inform any formal amendments to be made by the Department of Justice to the Contraventions Regulations.

Providing feedback

Publication of this notice, initiates a 45-day comment period ending August 8, 2024. Email us your comments at pregs@hc-sc.gc.ca with "Consultation - Contraventions Regulations 2024" in the subject line.

Transparency and international obligations

Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control obliges Parties, in setting and implementing their public health policies with respect to tobacco control, to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law. Therefore, the Government of Canada must actively exclude tobacco industry influence with respect to tobacco control policy. Interested parties must declare any perceived or actual conflicts of interest with the tobacco industry when providing input to this consultation. If an individual is part of the tobacco industry, an affiliated organization or an individual acting on their behalf, they must clearly state so in their submission.

Perceived or actual conflicts of interest with the vaping and/or pharmaceutical industry are also of interest. Members of the vaping and/or pharmaceutical industry, an affiliated organization or an individual acting on their behalf are asked to clearly indicate this in their submission.

Sonia Johnson
Director General
Tobacco Control Directorate
Controlled Substances and Cannabis Branch
Health Canada

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2024-06-24

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