Increased Sanctions for Environmental Violations in Québec

The Québec Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, Ms Line Beauchamp, recently tabled a new bill to the National Assembly that aims to reinforce compliance with the Environment Quality Act (the "Act"), notably by introducing new administrative sanctions and increasing the penal sanctions that have existed for over 20 years.

The amendments would allow the Minister to impose administrative sanctions without having to first sue offenders. The amount of these sanctions would remain to be determined by regulation.

In addition to these administrative sanctions, the Minister also wishes to significantly increase the fines that can be imposed by the courts in case of violation of the Act. For a first offense, and depending on the type of offense, the fines would range from $1,000 to $1 million for an individual, from $2,000 to $2 million for a director or officer of an offending corporation and from $3,000 to $6 million for a corporation. Imprisonment