Canada’s Anti-Corruption Regime: Implications For Corporate Governance Practices

Legislative amendments and increasingly rigorous enforcement practices under the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act ("CFPOA" or "the Act") mark the robust developments taking place in Canada's anti-corruption regime. Changes to the law and the enforcement thereof carry significant implications for companies and their corporate governance practices.

The CFPOA sets out as a criminal offence any payments made or other benefits provided to foreign public officials, which payments or benefits are made or provided with a view to obtaining or retaining a business advantage.

The accused may be a Canadian or foreign national in the form of a natural person, body corporate, partnership, association, joint venture, government body, crown corporation, or municipal corporation. A charge may be laid against more than one payer of the same bribe, or both the direct payer (the intermediary) and indirect payer (the business) of a bribe.