Canada Introduces Legislation To Impose Payment Disclosure Obligations On Extractive Companies

Introduction

On June 12, 2013, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that the Government of Canada would establish new mandatory reporting standards for Canadian extractive companies in order to enhance transparency regarding payments made to domestic or foreign governments. On October 23, 2014, the Government of Canada finally introduced the Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (the "Act"), as part of Bill C-43, Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 2. 

Entities Subject to the Act

The term "entity" is defined in Section 2 of the Act as a corporation, trust, partnership, or other unincorporated organization that is engaged in, or controls another entity that is engaged in, the commercial development of oil, gas, or minerals in Canada or elsewhere. According to Subsection 8(1) of the Act, reporting requirements will apply to the following entities (the "Reporting Entities"):