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

Administration and Enforcement

Designation

Marginal note:Designation

33 The Minister may designate persons or classes of persons for the purposes of the administration and enforcement of this Act.

Powers

Marginal note:Authority to enter

• 34 (1) Subject to subsection 36(1), a designated person may, for a purpose related to verifying compliance with this Act, enter a place, including an obstruction, work or vessel, in which they have reasonable grounds to believe that an activity regulated under this Act is conducted or an item to which this Act applies, or any information relating to such an activity or item, is located.

• Marginal note:Certification

  (2) On entering a place, the designated person shall, on request, produce to the person in charge of the place a certification in the form established by the Minister attesting to the designation.

• Marginal note:Powers

  (3) The designated person may, for the purposes referred to in subsection (1),

  • (a) examine the place and anything in the place;

  • (b) remove any document or other thing from the place for examination or, in the case of a document, copying;

  • (c) direct any person to put into operation or cease operating any work, vessel or other conveyance, machinery or equipment in the place;

  • (d) prohibit or limit access to the place for as long as specified;

  • (e) take photographs and make video recordings and sketches;

  • (f) use or cause to be used any computer system or data processing system at the place to examine any data contained in, or available to, the system;

  • (g) reproduce any record, or cause it to be reproduced from the data, in the form of a printout or other intelligible output and remove the printout or other output for examination or copying;

  • (h) use or cause to be used any copying equipment at the place to make copies of any books, records, electronic data or other documents; and

  • (i) order any person in the place to establish their identity to the designated person’s satisfaction.

• Marginal note:Persons accompanying designated person

  (3.1) The designated person may be accompanied by any person that they consider necessary to help them exercise their powers or perform their duties or functions under this section.

• Marginal note:Entry — private property

  (4) The designated person, in carrying out their functions under this section, and a person accompanying them may enter on and pass through or over private property without being liable for doing so.

Marginal note:Duty to assist

35 The owner or person who is in charge of a place that is entered under subsection 34(1) and every person who is in the place shall

• (a) give a designated person who is carrying out their functions under section 34 all reasonable assistance; and

• (b) provide them with any information that they may reasonably require.

Marginal note:Warrant for dwelling-house

• 36 (1) If any place referred to in subsection 34(1) is a dwelling-house, the designated person may not enter it without the consent of the occupant except under the authority of a warrant issued under subsection (2).

• Marginal note:Authority to issue warrant

  (2) On ex parte application, a justice of the peace may issue a warrant authorizing the person who is named in it to enter a dwelling-house, subject to any conditions that may be specified in the warrant, if the justice is satisfied by information on oath that

  • (a) the dwelling-house is a place referred to in subsection 34(1);

  • (b) entry to the dwelling-house is necessary for a purpose related to verifying compliance with this Act; and

  • (c) entry to the dwelling-house was refused by the occupant or there are reasonable grounds to believe that entry will be refused or consent to entry cannot be obtained from the occupant.

• Marginal note:Use of force

  (3) In executing a warrant to enter a dwelling-house, a designated person may use force only if the use of force has been specifically authorized in the warrant and they are accompanied by a peace officer.

Marginal note:Production of documents or information

36.1 A designated person may, for a purpose related to verifying compliance with this Act, order a person to provide, on the date, at the time and place and in the manner specified by the designated person, any document or information specified by the designated person.

Marginal note:Seizure

• 36.2 (1) The designated person may seize and detain anything that he or she has reasonable grounds to believe was used in the contravention of any provision of this Act or the regulations or is related to such a contravention.

• Marginal note:Custody of things seized

  (2) If a designated person seizes a thing under subsection (1), sections 489.1 and 490 of the Criminal Code apply and the designated person, or any person that he or she may designate, must retain custody of the thing, subject to any order made under section 490 of the Criminal Code.

Marginal note:Return of anything removed

• 36.3 (1) Anything removed under paragraph 34(3)‍(b) must be returned as soon as feasible after it is no longer required for the purpose for which it was taken unless

  • (a) the thing, in the designated person’s opinion, is no longer useful; or

  • (b) the owner is unknown or cannot be located.

• Marginal note:Thing not returned

  (2) A designated person may dispose of anything that is not returned under subsection (1), in the manner that they consider appropriate, and any proceeds realized from the disposition are to be paid to the Receiver General.

Prohibitions

Marginal note:False statements or information

• 37 (1) No person shall knowingly, orally or in writing, make a false or misleading statement or provide false or misleading information, in connection with any matter under this Act, to a designated person who is carrying out their functions under section 34.

• Marginal note:Obstruction

  (2) No person shall knowingly obstruct or hinder a designated person who is carrying out their functions under section 34.

Injunction

Marginal note:Injunction

• 38 (1) If, on the application of the Minister, it appears to a court of competent jurisdiction that a person has done, is about to do or is likely to do any act constituting or directed toward the commission of an offence or a violation under this Act, the court may issue an injunction ordering a person named in the application

  • (a) to refrain from doing an act that, in the opinion of the court, may constitute or be directed toward the commission of the offence or the violation; or

  • (b) to do an act that, in the opinion of the court, may prevent the commission of the offence or the violation.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (2) No injunction may be issued under subsection (1) unless 48 hours’ notice is served on the party or parties named in the application or the urgency of the situation is such that service would not be in the public interest.

Immunity

Marginal note:Not personally liable

• 39 (1) Servants of the Crown, as those terms are defined in section 2 of the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act, and persons accompanying a designated person under subsection 34(3.1) are not personally liable for anything they do or omit to do in good faith under this Act.

• Marginal note:Crown not relieved

  (2) Subsection (1) does not, by reason of section 10 of the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act, relieve the Crown of liability for a tort or extracontractual civil liability to which the Crown would otherwise be subject.

Administrative Monetary Penalties

Violations

Marginal note:Commission of violation

• 39.1 (1) Every person who contravenes a provision designated under paragraph 28(1)(i) commits a violation and is liable to a penalty established in accordance with the regulations.

• Marginal note:Purpose of penalty

  (2) The purpose of a penalty is to promote compliance with this Act and not to punish.

• Marginal note:Maximum penalty

  (3) The maximum penalty for a violation is $50,000, in the case of an individual, and $250,000 in any other case.

Proceedings

Marginal note:Notice of violation

• 39.11 (1) A designated person may issue a notice of violation and cause it to be provided to a person if the designated person has reasonable grounds to believe that the person has committed a violation.

• Marginal note:Contents of notice

  (2) The notice of violation shall

  • (a) name the person believed to have committed the violation;

  • (b) identify the acts or omissions that constitute the alleged violation;

  • (c) set out the penalty for the violation that the person is liable to pay;

  • (d) set out the particulars concerning the time and manner of payment; and

  • (e) set out a lesser amount that may be paid as complete satisfaction of the penalty if it is paid within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner that are specified in the notice.

• Marginal note:Summary of rights

  (3) A notice of violation shall summarize, in plain language, the rights and obligations under this section and sections 39.12 to 39.23 of the person to whom it is provided, including the right to request a review of the acts or omissions that constitute the alleged violation or of the amount of the penalty and the procedure for requesting the review.

• Marginal note:Short-form descriptions

  (4) The Minister may establish a short-form description of each violation to be used in notices of violation.

Penalties

Marginal note:Effect of payment

• 39.12 (1) If the person who is named in a notice of violation pays, within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner that are specified in the notice, the amount of the penalty — or, if applicable, the lesser amount that may be paid as complete satisfaction of the penalty — set out in the notice,

  • (a) the person is deemed to have committed the violation to which the amount paid relates;

  • (b) the Minister shall accept the amount paid as complete satisfaction of the penalty; and

  • (c) the proceedings commenced in respect of the violation under section 39.11 are ended.

• Marginal note:Alternatives to payment

  (2) Instead of paying the penalty or, if applicable, the lesser amount that may be paid as complete satisfaction of the penalty, the person who is named in the notice may, within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner that are specified in the notice, request a review by the Tribunal of the acts or omissions that constitute the alleged violation or of the amount of the penalty, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Deeming

  (3) If the person who is named in the notice does not pay the penalty or, if applicable, the lesser amount that may be paid as complete satisfaction of the penalty, within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner and does not exercise the right referred to in subsection (2) within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner, the person is deemed to have committed the violation identified in the notice.

Review by Tribunal

Marginal note:Review — violation

• 39.13 (1) After completing a review requested under subsection 39.12(2) with respect to the acts or omissions that constitute the alleged violation identified in the notice of violation, the Tribunal shall determine whether the person who is named in the notice committed the violation and, if the Tribunal determines that the person did so but considers that the amount of the penalty for the violation was not established in accordance with the regulations, the Tribunal shall correct that amount and cause the person to be provided with a notice of the Tribunal’s decision.

• Marginal note:Review — penalty

  (2) After completing a review requested under subsection 39.12(2) with respect to the amount of the penalty set out in the notice of violation, the Tribunal shall determine whether the amount of the penalty was established in accordance with the regulations and, if the Tribunal determines that it was not, the Tribunal shall correct that amount and cause the person to be provided with a notice of the Tribunal’s decision.

• Marginal note:Payment

  (3) The person who is provided with a notice of the Tribunal’s decision is liable to pay the amount of the penalty that is set out in it within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner that are specified in the notice.

• Marginal note:Effect of payment

  (4) If the person pays the amount of the penalty that is set out in the notice of the Tribunal’s decision within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner that are specified in the notice,

  • (a) the Tribunal shall accept the amount as complete satisfaction of the penalty; and

  • (b) the proceedings commenced in respect of the violation under section 39.11 are ended.

Marginal note:Right of appeal

• 39.131 (1) Within 30 days after a decision is made under subsection 39.13(1) or (2), the Minister or the person to whom it applies may appeal from the decision to the Tribunal.

• Marginal note:Loss of right of appeal

  (2) A party that does not appear at a review hearing is not entitled to appeal a decision, unless they establish that there was sufficient reason to justify their absence.

• Marginal note:Disposition of appeal

  (3) The appeal panel of the Tribunal assigned to hear an appeal may dispose of the appeal by dismissing it or by allowing it and, in allowing the appeal, the panel may substitute its own decision for the decision under appeal.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (4) If the appeal panel finds that a person has committed a violation, the panel must without delay inform the person and the Minister of its decision and of the amount determined by the panel to be payable to the Tribunal by or on behalf of the person in respect of the violation and the time within which it must be paid.