Transboundary Waters Protection Act (S.C. 2013, c. 12)

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Assented to 2013-06-19

R.S., c. I-17INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY WATERS TREATY ACT

11. The schedule to the Act is renumbered as Schedule 1.

12. The Act is amended by adding, after Schedule 1, the Schedules 2 and 3 set out in the schedule to this Act.

13. (1) The portion of the definition “international river improvement” before paragraph (a) in section 2 of the International River Improvements Act is replaced by the following:
“international river improvement”
« ouvrage destiné à l’amélioration d’un cours d’eau international »
“international river improvement” means a dam, obstruction, canal, reservoir, pipeline or other work the purpose or effect of which is
(2) Section 2 of the Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:
“boundary waters”
« eaux limitrophes »
“boundary waters” has the same meaning as in the Preliminary Article of the treaty relating to the boundary waters and to questions arising along the boundary between Canada and the United States signed at Washington on January 11, 1909 and set out in Schedule 1 to the International Boundary Waters Treaty Act.
“transboundary waters”
« eaux transfrontalières »
“transboundary waters” has the same meaning as in section 10 of the International Boundary Waters Treaty Act.

14. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 4:

4.1 (1) The purpose of this section is to prevent the risk of environmental harm resulting from the permanent loss of water from Canadian ecosystems.
Marginal note:Prohibition
(2) No licence may be issued for the construction, operation or maintenance of an international river improvement that links waters that are neither boundary waters nor transboundary waters to an international river if the purpose or effect of the improvement is to increase the annual flow of the international river at the international boundary.

15. The provisions of this Act come into force on a day or days to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.