Evaluation of the Contraventions Act Program
2 Program Profile
2.1 Program Overview
The Contraventions Act allows the federal government to designate federal statutory offences as contraventions, which may be enforced by means of tickets, instead of prosecuting these offences under the summary conviction process established in the Criminal Code. The purposes of the Act are:
- to provide a procedure for the prosecution of contraventions that reflects the distinction between criminal offences and regulatory offences and that is in addition to the procedures set out in the Criminal Code for the prosecution of contraventions and other offences; and
- to alter or abolish the consequences in law of being convicted of a contravention, in light of that distinction.
Adding a ticketing option to enforce designated federal offences is based on the assumption that the fairly complex and burdensome summary conviction process may be at odds with the nature of these offences. Using the summary conviction process requires several steps involving a number of stakeholders. Among other things, it requires enforcement officers to gather detailed information to be shared with Crown prosecutors to determine whether charges will be laid. When charges proceed, enforcement officers must file the required information at the courthouse, to be reviewed and signed by a provincial judge or a justice of the peace. Enforcement officers also prepare summons to be signed by the judge or the justice of the peace ordering the charged individuals to appear in court. If the charged individuals opt for a trial, enforcement officers must provide the required information and assistance to the Crown, which may necessitate several meetings, in addition to being available to serve as witness in court. Having this as the default process for all federal statutory offences was seen as inefficient, which led to the establishment of the contraventions regime.
The contraventions regime also lessens the impact on offenders that result from a conviction based on a federal contraventions ticket. These individuals may readily pay the fine and settle the matter. They face no criminal record and no possibility of imprisonment.
The Act provides two mechanisms for implementing a ticketing regime for federal contraventions. First, it provides for the eventual creation of an autonomous and comprehensive federal procedural regime to process federal tickets; and second, it makes it possible for the federal government to rely instead on existing provincial ticketing schemes. Rather than duplicate existing provincial structures at the federal level, the federal government has opted to use its powers under the Act to enter into agreements with the provinces and make existing provincial ticketing schemes applicable to federal contraventions. As a result, when a contravention ticket is issued by an enforcement authority, the ensuing process is solely governed by the ticketing scheme of the province in which the offence occurred.
In practical terms, enforcement officers can start using a provincial ticketing scheme to enforce federal contraventions when the following legal requirements are met: the required amendment to the Application of Provincial Laws Regulations is made to authorize the use of a provincial ticketing scheme; and an agreement is signed with the relevant provincial government, in conformity with the Contraventions Act. In the absence of either one of these two conditions, federal offences designated as contraventions are enforced in a provincial jurisdiction using warnings, or they are prosecuted under the Criminal Code summary conviction procedure. At the time of the evaluation, the Act was operational in all provinces except Saskatchewan and Alberta, and in two municipalities, Ottawa and Mississauga. It is not yet operational in the three territories.
As for the Contraventions Act Program, it consists of a range of coordinated responsibilities undertaken by Justice, which are necessary for the implementation of the contraventions regime. These responsibilities include the provision of legal services in matters related to ticketing procedures, designation of federal offences as contraventions, required amendments to applicable regulations, negotiation of agreements, determination of appropriate measures related to language rights, management of the regime in provinces, the management of a Federal-Provincial-Territorial working group and a Justice Department Study Group, and management of the transfer payment program referred to as the Contraventions Act Fund.
The Contraventions Act Fund supports the implementation of measures put in place by provincial and municipal governments and designed to ensure the provision of judicial and extra-judicial services to offenders in both languages as stated in the Criminal Code (judicial services) and the Official Languages Act (extra-judicial services). These measures typically include the hiring of bilingual court personnel, language training, bilingual signage and documentation, as well as costs provinces incur to manage and report on these measures.
2.2 Governance Structure
Two groups within the Policy Sector’s Programs Branch contribute to the ongoing management of the Contraventions Act Program:
- The Programs Branch’s Legal Services Division leads the negotiation of agreements with provinces to allow their ticketing schemes to be used for the prosecution of federal contraventions. This includes the management of any required amendments to the Application of Provincial Laws Regulations. In addition, it provides ongoing support to the Programs Branch, federal client-departments including their respective enforcement authorities, agencies as well as provincial counterparts, in providing legal services and advice on matters related to ticketing procedures and designating new federal offences as contraventions, including the required amendments to the Contraventions Regulations. The Division also supports training activities for enforcement officers, which are typically delivered in collaboration with provincial authorities and Public Prosecution Services of Canada. Finally, the Division provides assistance on the creation and implementation of administrative monetary penalty (AMP) regimes (explained further in section 4.2.2), which may, under some circumstances, play a complementary role to the contraventions regime.
- The Programs Branch’s Innovation, Analysis and Integration Directorate is primarily responsible for the ongoing management of the Contravention Act agreements funding component signed with participating provinces and municipalities. This includes, in particular, the management of the financial support provided to provincial and municipal governments through the Contraventions Act Fund to support the provision of services in both official languages. The Directorate monitors and collects all reports provided in accordance with Contraventions Act agreements.
2.3 Resources
Table 1 includes the total financial resources allocated to the Contraventions Act Program during the four years covered by this evaluation. The Department allocates close to $10 million annually to the Program, the majority of which is allocated to the contributions provided to participating provinces for the delivery of bilingual services in the context of federal contraventions.
| Categories | FY 2016-17 | FY 2017-18 | FY 2018-19 | FY 2019-20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operational costsFootnote 1 of Table 1 | $827,427 | $827,427 | $827,427 | $827,427 |
| ContributionsFootnote 2 of Table 1 | $9,094,900 | $9,094,900 | $9,094,900 | $9,094,900 |
| Total | $9,922,327 | $9,922,327 | $9,922,327 | $9,922,327 |
It is important to note that Justice does not provide a direct financial contribution to provincial or municipal governments to cover expenditures related to the processing of federal contraventions. Instead, current Contraventions Act agreements include clauses that allow provincial and municipal governments to retain the required portion of fines collected to cover these costs. Any surplus in fines collected is shared equally between the federal and provincial/municipal governments.
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