Criminal Code

Marginal note:Order of forfeiture of property

• 462.37 (1) Subject to this section and sections 462.39 to 462.41, if an offender is convicted, or discharged under section 730, of a designated offence and the court imposing sentence on or discharging the offender, on application of the Attorney General, is satisfied, on a balance of probabilities, that any property is proceeds of crime obtained through the commission of the designated offence, the court shall order that the property be forfeited to Her Majesty to be disposed of as the Attorney General directs or otherwise dealt with in accordance with the law.

• Marginal note:Proceeds of crime — other offences

  (2) If the evidence does not establish to the satisfaction of the court that property in respect of which an order of forfeiture would otherwise be made under subsection (1) was obtained through the commission of the designated offence of which the offender is convicted or discharged, but the court is satisfied, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the property is proceeds of crime, the court may make an order of forfeiture under subsection (1) in relation to that property.

• Marginal note:Order of forfeiture — particular circumstances

  (2.01) A court imposing sentence on an offender convicted of an offence described in subsection (2.02) shall, on application of the Attorney General and subject to this section and sections 462.4 and 462.41, order that any property of the offender that is identified by the Attorney General in the application be forfeited to Her Majesty to be disposed of as the Attorney General directs or otherwise dealt with in accordance with the law if the court is satisfied, on a balance of probabilities, that

  • (a) within 10 years before the proceedings were commenced in respect of the offence for which the offender is being sentenced, the offender engaged in a pattern of criminal activity for the purpose of directly or indirectly receiving a material benefit, including a financial benefit; or

  • (b) the income of the offender from sources unrelated to designated offences cannot reasonably account for the value of all the property of the offender.

• Marginal note:Offences

  (2.02) The offences are the following:

  • (a) a criminal organization offence punishable by five or more years of imprisonment;

  • (b) an offence under section 5, 6 or 7 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act — or a conspiracy or an attempt to commit, being an accessory after the fact in relation to, or any counselling in relation to an offence under those sections — prosecuted by indictment; and

  • (c) an offence under subsection 9(1) or (2), 10(1) or (2), 11(1) or (2), 12(1), (4), (5), (6) or (7), 13(1) or 14(1) of the Cannabis Act — or a conspiracy or an attempt to commit, being an accessory after the fact in relation to, or any counselling in relation to an offence under any of those subsections — prosecuted by indictment.

• Marginal note:Offender may establish that property is not proceeds of crime

  (2.03) A court shall not make an order of forfeiture under subsection (2.01) in respect of any property that the offender establishes, on a balance of probabilities, is not proceeds of crime.

• Marginal note:Pattern of criminal activity

  (2.04) In determining whether the offender has engaged in a pattern of criminal activity described in paragraph (2.01)(a), the court shall consider

  • (a) the circumstances of the offence for which the offender is being sentenced;

  • (b) any act or omission — other than an act or omission that constitutes the offence for which the offender is being sentenced — that the court is satisfied, on a balance of probabilities, was committed by the offender and constitutes an offence punishable by indictment under any Act of Parliament;

  • (c) any act or omission that the court is satisfied, on a balance of probabilities, was committed by the offender and is an offence in the place where it was committed and, if committed in Canada, would constitute an offence punishable by indictment under any Act of Parliament; and

  • (d) any other factor that the court considers relevant.

• Marginal note:Conditions — pattern of criminal activity

  (2.05) A court shall not determine that an offender has engaged in a pattern of criminal activity unless the court is satisfied, on a balance of probabilities, that the offender committed, within the period referred to in paragraph (2.01)(a),

  • (a) acts or omissions — other than an act or omission that constitutes the offence for which the offender is being sentenced — that constitute at least two serious offences or one criminal organization offence;

  • (b) acts or omissions that are offences in the place where they were committed and, if committed in Canada, would constitute at least two serious offences or one criminal organization offence; or

  • (c) an act or omission described in paragraph (a) that constitutes a serious offence and an act or omission described in paragraph (b) that, if committed in Canada, would constitute a serious offence.

• Marginal note:Application under subsection (1) not prevented

  (2.06) Nothing in subsection (2.01) shall be interpreted as preventing the Attorney General from making an application under subsection (1) in respect of any property.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2.07) A court may, if it considers it in the interests of justice, decline to make an order of forfeiture against any property that would otherwise be subject to forfeiture under subsection (2.01). The court shall give reasons for its decision.

• Marginal note:Property outside Canada

  (2.1) An order may be issued under this section in respect of property situated outside Canada, with any modifications that the circumstances require.

• Marginal note:Fine instead of forfeiture

  (3) If a court is satisfied that an order of forfeiture under subsection (1) or (2.01) should be made in respect of any property of an offender but that the property or any part of or interest in the property cannot be made subject to an order, the court may, instead of ordering the property or any part of or interest in the property to be forfeited, order the offender to pay a fine in an amount equal to the value of the property or the part of or interest in the property. In particular, a court may order the offender to pay a fine if the property or any part of or interest in the property

  • (a) cannot, on the exercise of due diligence, be located;

  • (b) has been transferred to a third party;

  • (c) is located outside Canada;

  • (d) has been substantially diminished in value or rendered worthless; or

  • (e) has been commingled with other property that cannot be divided without difficulty.

• Marginal note:Imprisonment in default of payment of fine

  (4) Where a court orders an offender to pay a fine pursuant to subsection (3), the court shall

  • (a) impose, in default of payment of that fine, a term of imprisonment

    • (i) not exceeding six months, where the amount of the fine does not exceed ten thousand dollars,

    • (ii) of not less than six months and not exceeding twelve months, where the amount of the fine exceeds ten thousand dollars but does not exceed twenty thousand dollars,

    • (iii) of not less than twelve months and not exceeding eighteen months, where the amount of the fine exceeds twenty thousand dollars but does not exceed fifty thousand dollars,

    • (iv) of not less than eighteen months and not exceeding two years, where the amount of the fine exceeds fifty thousand dollars but does not exceed one hundred thousand dollars,

    • (v) of not less than two years and not exceeding three years, where the amount of the fine exceeds one hundred thousand dollars but does not exceed two hundred and fifty thousand dollars,

    • (vi) of not less than three years and not exceeding five years, where the amount of the fine exceeds two hundred and fifty thousand dollars but does not exceed one million dollars, or

    • (vii) of not less than five years and not exceeding ten years, where the amount of the fine exceeds one million dollars; and

  • (b) direct that the term of imprisonment imposed pursuant to paragraph (a) be served consecutively to any other term of imprisonment imposed on the offender or that the offender is then serving.

• Marginal note:Fine option program not available to offender

  (5) Section 736 does not apply to an offender against whom a fine is imposed pursuant to subsection (3).