Canadian Navigable Waters Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. N-22)

Marginal note:Dewatering and other actions

• 23 (1) No person shall take any action that lowers the water level of a navigable water or any part of a navigable water to a level that extinguishes navigation for vessels of any class that navigate, or are likely to navigate, the navigable water in question.

• Marginal note:Historic canals

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a historic canal as defined in section 2 of the Historic Canals Regulations.

• Marginal note:Navigation not extinguished

  (3) For the purposes of this Act, navigation is not extinguished if the Minister is of the opinion that there are sufficient measures in place to mitigate the impact of the lower water level on navigation and he or she approves the work whose construction, placement, alteration, rebuilding, removal, decommissioning, repair, maintenance, operation or use lowers the water level of a navigable water or part of a navigable water.

Marginal note:Exemption by order

• 24 (1) The Governor in Council may, by order, exempt from the application of any of sections 21 to 23, any rivers, streams or waters, in whole or in part, if the Minister receives an application for an exemption and the Governor in Council is satisfied that it would be in the public interest.

• Marginal note:Application

  (2) An application for an exemption under subsection (1) must be made in the form and manner, and contain the information, specified by the Minister.

Marginal note:Powers of certain persons

25 Sections 21, 22 and 26 do not affect the legal powers, rights or duties of harbour masters, port wardens, the person responsible for the management of the St. Lawrence Seaway or a port authority established under the Canada Marine Act in respect of materials that, under those sections, are not allowed to be deposited in navigable waters.

Marginal note:Minister’s powers

• 25.1 (1) The Minister may

  • (a) order any person who is contravening section 21 or 22 to stop throwing or depositing or causing, suffering or permitting to be thrown or deposited any material or rubbish;

  • (b) order any person who contravened section 21 or 22 to remove the material or rubbish in question or to do any other thing with respect to it, including taking all measures necessary for the safety of navigation;

  • (c) if a person fails to comply with an order given under paragraph (a) or (b), cause any thing to be done with respect to the material or rubbish in question, including its removal and disposition;

  • (d) order any person who is contravening subsection 23(1) to stop taking the action that is lowering the level of the navigable water;

  • (e) order any person who has contravened subsection 23(1) to take any action necessary to restore the level of the navigable water to the level that the Minister considers acceptable; and

  • (f) if a person fails to comply with an order given under paragraph (d) or (e), cause any thing to be done with respect to the navigable water, including the taking of any action necessary to restore the level of the navigable water to the level that the Minister considers acceptable.

• Marginal note:Debt

  (2) The amount of the costs incurred by the Minister while acting under paragraph (1)(c) or (f) constitutes a debt due to Her Majesty in right of Canada.

• Marginal note:Statutory Instruments Act

  (3) For greater certainty, an order given under this section is not a statutory instrument as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Statutory Instruments Act.

Marginal note:Designated places to deposit materials

• 26 (1) The Governor in Council may, by regulation, designate places in any navigable water that is not within the jurisdiction of any person referred to in section 25, where stone, gravel, earth, cinders, ashes or other material may be deposited even if the minimum depth of water at that place may be less than 36 metres.

• Marginal note:Ministerial approval

  (2) The Minister may, on application, authorize the deposit of materials in a place designated under subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Application

  (3) An application under subsection (2) must be made in the form and manner, and contain the information, specified by the Minister.

• Marginal note:Non-application

  (4) For greater certainty, this section does not apply with respect to the dumping of fill done in compliance with an approval issued under subsection 7(6).

Studies and Collection of Information

Marginal note:Minister

26.1 The Minister may undertake any study and collect any information that, in his or her opinion, is necessary for the purposes of the administration of this Act.

Indigenous Knowledge

Marginal note:Confidentiality

• 26.2 (1) Any Indigenous knowledge that is provided to the Minister under this Act in confidence is confidential and must not knowingly be, or be permitted to be, disclosed without written consent.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) Despite subsection (1), the Indigenous knowledge referred to in that subsection may be disclosed if

  • (a) it is publicly available;

  • (b) the disclosure is necessary for the purposes of procedural fairness and natural justice, or for use in legal proceedings; or

  • (c) the disclosure is authorized in the circumstances set out in the regulations made under paragraph 28(1)(g.2).

• Marginal note:Consultation

  (2.1) Before disclosing Indigenous knowledge under paragraph 2(b) for the purposes of procedural fairness and natural justice, the Minister must consult the person or entity who provided the Indigenous knowledge and the person or entity to whom it is proposed to be disclosed about the scope of the proposed disclosure and potential conditions under subsection (3).

• Marginal note:Further disclosure

  (3) The Minister may, having regard to the consultation referred to in subsection (2.1), impose conditions with respect to the disclosure of Indigenous knowledge by any person or entity to whom it is disclosed under paragraph (2)(b) for the purposes of procedural fairness and natural justice.

• Marginal note:Duty to comply

  (4) The person or entity referred to in subsection (3) must comply with any conditions imposed by the Minister under that subsection.

• Marginal note:Protection from civil proceeding or prosecution

  (5) Despite any other Act of Parliament, no civil or criminal proceedings lie against the Minister — or any person acting on behalf of, or under the direction of, him or her — and no proceedings lie against the Crown, for the disclosure in good faith of any Indigenous knowledge under this Act or for any consequences that flow from that disclosure.

Agreements and Arrangements

Marginal note:Agreements and arrangements

27 The Minister may, with respect to his or her responsibilities under this Act, enter into agreements or arrangements for carrying out the purposes of this Act and authorize any other federal minister, person or organization with whom an agreement or arrangement is entered into to exercise the powers or perform the duties under this Act that are specified in the agreement or arrangement.

Marginal note:Agreement — cost recovery

• 27.1 (1) The Minister may enter into an agreement with any person or organization respecting any matter for which a regulation made under paragraph 28(1)(b) could prescribe a fee.

• Marginal note:Regulations — exemption

  (2) If both an agreement entered into under subsection (1) and a regulation made under paragraph 28(1)(b) relate to the same matter, the regulation does not apply to the person or organization that has entered into the agreement in respect of the matter for which payment is required under the agreement.

• Marginal note:Recovery

  (3) When the Minister enters into an undertaking with respect to a matter for which payment of an amount is required from the other party under the terms of an agreement entered into under subsection (1), the undertaking is deemed, for the purposes of recovering that amount, not to be a duty of the Minister under this Act.

• Marginal note:Debt due to Her Majesty

  (4) All amounts payable under an agreement entered into under subsection (1) and any interest payable on them constitute a debt due to Her Majesty in right of Canada.

• Marginal note:Spending

  (5) The Minister may spend the amounts received under an agreement entered into under subsection (1) in the fiscal year in which they are received or in the next fiscal year.

Registry

Marginal note:Establishment

• 27.2 (1) The Minister must establish and maintain a registry in which information that he or she specifies is deposited.

• Marginal note:Access

  (2) The Minister must make the registry accessible to the public through the Internet and by any other means that he or she considers appropriate.

• Marginal note:Types of documents in registry

  (3) The registry must contain only records or parts of a record

  • (a) that are publicly available; or

  • (b) that the Minister determines would be disclosed to the public in accordance with the Access to Information Act if a request were made in respect of that record under that Act, including any record that would be disclosed in the public interest under subsection 20(6) of that Act.

• Marginal note:Protection from civil proceeding or prosecution

  (4) Despite any other Act of Parliament, no civil or criminal proceedings lie against the Minister, or any person acting on behalf of, or under the direction of, him or her or against the Crown, for the disclosure in good faith of any record or any part of a record under this Act or for any consequences that flow from that disclosure.

Regulations, Orders, Incorporation by Reference and Interim Orders

Regulations and Orders

Marginal note:Regulations by Governor in Council

• 28 (1) The Governor in Council may, for the purposes of this Act, make regulations

  • (a) respecting time limits for issuing approvals or for refusing to do so;

  • (b) respecting fees, or the method of calculating fees, to be paid for any service provided or any right or privilege conferred by means of an approval, exemption or other authorization under this Act and respecting the payment of those fees;

  • (c) respecting the issuance, amendment, suspension and cancellation of approvals in relation to works;

  • (d) respecting the water levels and water flow necessary for navigation;

  • (e) respecting the construction, placement, alteration, rebuilding, removal, decommissioning, repair, maintenance, operation, use or safety of works in, on, over, under, through or across any navigable waters;

  • (e.1) prescribing periods for the purposes of subsections 10(3) and 10.1(1) and (3);

  • (f) respecting areas contiguous to works that are necessary for the safety of persons and navigation;

  • (f.1) respecting places in any navigable water where stone, gravel, earth, cinders, ashes or other material may be deposited and the deposit of such materials in such places;

  • (g) respecting notification requirements in the case of a change in owner of a work;

  • (g.1) excluding any body of water that the Governor in Council considers to be small from the definition navigable water in section 2;

  • (g.2) prescribing the circumstances in which the Indigenous knowledge that is provided to the Minister under this Act in confidence may be disclosed without written consent;

  • (h) excluding any thing from the definition obstruction in section 2;

  • (i) designating any provision of this Act, of the regulations or of an order as a provision whose contravention may be proceeded with as a violation in accordance with sections 39.1 to 39.26;

  • (j) establishing a penalty, or a range of penalties, in respect of each violation;

  • (k) establishing criteria to be considered in determining the amount of the penalty if a range of penalties is established;

  • (l) classifying each violation as a minor violation, a serious violation or a very serious violation;

  • (m) respecting the circumstances under which, the criteria by which and the manner in which the amount of a penalty may be increased or reduced in whole or in part;

  • (n) providing for a lesser amount that may be paid as complete satisfaction of a penalty if it is paid within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner and providing, among other things, the circumstances in which the lesser amount may be set out in a notice of violation;

  • (o) prescribing anything that is to be prescribed under this Act; and

  • (p) for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act.

• Marginal note:Minister’s power

  (2) The Minister may make an order

  • (a) designating any works that are likely to slightly interfere with navigation as minor works;

  • (b) designating any works that are likely to substantially interfere with navigation as major works;

  • (c) respecting the construction, placement, alteration, rebuilding, removal, decommissioning, repair, maintenance, operation, use or safety of works in, on, over, under, through or across any navigable waters; and

  • (d) respecting the registry established under section 27.2, including specifying records or information to be posted on the Internet site.

• Marginal note:Classes

  (3) A regulation or order made under this section may establish classes and distinguish among those classes.

• Marginal note:Conflict

  (4) If there is a conflict between a regulation made under paragraph (1)(e) and an order made under paragraph (2)(c), the regulation prevails.

• (5) [Repealed, 2019, c. 28, s. 61]