288. (1) Where an offender has pleaded guilty to or been found guilty of an offence, the court may, instead of convicting the offender, by order direct that the offender be discharged absolutely or on conditions having any or all of the effects described in paragraphs 291(1)(a) to (q).

(2) Where an order is made under subsection (1) and the offender contravenes or fails to comply with it, or is convicted of an offence under this Act, including an offence under paragraph 272(1)(c), the prosecutor may apply to the court to revoke the discharge, convict the offender of the offence to which the discharge relates and impose any sentence that could have been imposed if the offender had been convicted at the time the order was made.

289. (1) Where an offender is convicted of an offence under this Act, the court may suspend the passing of sentence and may, having regard to the nature of the offence and the circumstances surrounding its commission, make an order under section 291.

(2) Where the passing of sentence has been suspended under subsection (1) and the offender contravenes or fails to comply with an order made under section 291, or is convicted of an offence under this Act, including an offence under paragraph 272(1)(c), the prosecutor may apply to the court to impose any sentence that could have been imposed if the passing of sentence had not been suspended.

290. Where an offender has been convicted of an offence under this Act, the court may, where it is satisfied that as a result of the commission of the offence the offender acquired any property, benefit or advantage or that any property, benefit or advantage accrued to the offender, order the offender to pay, despite the maximum amount of any fine that may otherwise be imposed under this Act, an additional fine in an amount equal to the court’s estimation of the amount of that property, benefit or advantage.

291. (1) Where an offender has been convicted of an offence under this Act, in addition to any other punishment that may be imposed under this Act, the court may, having regard to the nature of the offence and the circumstances surrounding its commission, make an order having any or all of the following effects:

(a) prohibiting the offender from doing any act or engaging in any activity that may result in the continuation or repetition of the offence;

(b) directing the offender to take any action that the court considers appropriate to remedy or avoid any harm to the environment that results or may result from the act or omission that constituted the offence;

(c) directing the offender to prepare and implement a pollution prevention plan or an environmental emergency plan;

(d) directing the offender to carry out environmental effects monitoring in the manner established by the Minister or directing the offender to pay, in the manner prescribed by the court, an amount for the purposes of environmental effects monitoring;

(e) directing the offender to implement an environmental management system that meets a recognized Canadian or international standard;

(f) directing the offender to have an environmental audit conducted by a person of a class and at the times specified by the court and directing the offender to remedy any deficiencies revealed during the audit;

(g) directing the offender to publish, in the manner directed by the court, the facts relating to the conviction;

(h) directing the offender to notify, at the offender’s own cost and in the manner directed by the court, any person aggrieved or affected by the offender’s conduct of the facts relating to the conviction;

(i) directing the offender to post any bond or pay any amount of money into court that will ensure compliance with any order made under this section;

(j) directing the offender to submit to the Minister, on application by the Minister made within three years after the date of conviction, any information with respect to the offender’s activities that the court considers appropriate and just in the circumstances;

(k) directing the offender to compensate the Minister, in whole or in part, for the cost of any remedial or preventive action taken by or caused to be taken on behalf of the Minister as a result of the act or omission that constituted the offence;

(l) directing the offender to perform community service, subject to any reasonable conditions that may be imposed in the order;

(m) directing that the amount of any fine or other monetary award be allocated, subject to the Criminal Code and any regulations that may be made under section 278, in accordance with any directions of the court that are made on the basis of the harm or risk of harm caused by the commission of the offence;

(n) directing the offender to pay, in the manner prescribed by the court, an amount for the purposes of conducting research into the ecological use and disposal of the substance in respect of which the offence was committed or research relating to the manner of carrying out environmental effects monitoring;

(o) directing the offender to pay, in the manner prescribed by the court, an amount to environmental, health or other groups to assist in their work in the community where the offence was committed;

(p) directing the offender to pay, in the manner prescribed by the court, an amount to an educational institution for scholarships for students enrolled in environmental studies; and

(q) requiring the offender to comply with any other reasonable conditions that the court considers appropriate and just in the circumstances for securing the offender’s good conduct and for preventing the offender from repeating the same offence or committing other offences.

(2) Where an offender fails to comply with an order made under paragraph (1)(g) directing the publication of the facts relating to the offence, the Minister may publish the facts in compliance with the order and recover the costs of publication from the offender.

(3) Where the court makes an order under paragraph (1)(k) directing an offender to pay costs or the Minister incurs publication costs under subsection (2), the costs constitute a debt due to Her Majesty in right of Canada and may be recovered in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(4) An order made under subsection (1) comes into force on the day on which it is made or on any other day that the court may determine and shall not continue in force for more than three years after that day.

292. (1) Where an offender has been convicted of an offence under this Act, the court may, at the time sentence is imposed and on the application of the person aggrieved, order the offender to pay to that person an amount by way of satisfaction or compensation for loss of or damage to property suffered by that person as a result of the commission of the offence.

(2) Where an amount that is ordered to be paid under subsection (1) is not paid forthwith, the applicant may, by filing the order, enter as a judgment, in the superior court of the province in which the trial was held, the amount ordered to be paid, and that judgment is enforceable against the offender in the same manner as if it were a judgment rendered against the offender in that court in civil proceedings.

293. (1) Subject to subsection (2), where a court has made, in relation to an offender, an order or direction under section 288, 289 or 291, the court may, on application by the offender or the Attorney General, require the offender to appear before it and, after hearing the offender and the Attorney General, vary the order in one or any combination of the following ways that is applicable and, in the opinion of the court, is rendered desirable by a change in the circumstances of the offender since the order was made:

(a) make changes in the order or the conditions specified in it or extend the period for which the order is to remain in force for any period, not exceeding one year, that the court considers desirable; or

(b) decrease the period for which the order is to remain in force or relieve the offender, either absolutely or partially or for any period that the court considers desirable, of compliance with any condition that is specified in the order.

(2) Before making an order under subsection (1), the court may direct that notice be given to any persons that the court considers to be interested and may hear any such person.

294. Where an application made under section 293 in respect of an offender has been heard by a court, no other application may be made under that section with respect to the offender except with leave of the court.

295. The definitions in this section apply in sections 296 to 309.

“agreement” means an agreement respecting environmental protection alternative measures.

“Attorney General” means the Attorney General of Canada or an agent of the Attorney General of Canada.

“environmental protection alternative measures” means measures, other than judicial proceedings, that are used to deal with a person who is alleged to have committed an offence under this Act.

“person” includes individuals, Her Majesty in right of Canada or of a province and public bodies, bodies corporate, societies and companies.

296. (1) Environmental protection alternative measures may be used to deal with a person who is alleged to have committed an offence under this Act only if it is not inconsistent with the purposes of this Act and the following conditions are met:

(a) the measures are part of a program of environmental protection alternative measures authorized by the Attorney General, after consultation with the Minister;

(b) the offence alleged to have been committed is an offence under this Act, except an offence under

(i) paragraph 272(1)(a) or (b), in respect of subsection 16(4), 81(1), (2), (3) or (4), 82(1) or (2), 84(2) or 96(4), section 99, subsection 106(1), (2), (3) or (4), 107(1) or (2), 109(1) or (2), 119(1), 148(1), 202(4) or 213(4) or section 227 or 228,

(ii) paragraph 272(1)(c), (d) or (e),

(iii) subsection 273(1), if the offence is committed knowingly, or

(iv) subsection 274(1) or (2);

(c) an information has been laid in respect of the offence;

(d) the Attorney General, after consulting with the Minister, is satisfied that they would be appropriate, having regard to the nature of the offence, the circumstances surrounding its commission and the following factors, namely,

(i) the protection of the environment and of human life and health and other interests of society,

(ii) the person’s history of compliance with this Act,

(iii) whether the offence is a repeated occurrence,

(iv) any allegation that information is being or was concealed or other attempts to subvert the purposes and requirements of this Act are being or have been made, and

(v) whether any remedial or preventive action has been taken by or on behalf of the person in relation to the offence;

(e) the person has been advised of the right to be represented by counsel;

(f) the person accepts responsibility for the act or omission that forms the basis of the offence that the person is alleged to have committed;

(g) the person applies, in accordance with regulations made under section 309, to participate in the measures;

(h) the person and the Attorney General have entered into an agreement within the period of 180 days after the Attorney General has provided initial disclosure of the Crown’s evidence to the person;

(i) there is, in the opinion of the Attorney General, sufficient evidence to proceed with the prosecution of the offence; and

(j) the prosecution of the offence is not barred at law.

(2) Environmental protection alternative measures shall not be used to deal with a person who

(a) denies participation or involvement in the commission of the alleged offence; or

(b) expresses the wish to have any charge against the person dealt with by the court.

(3) No admission, confession or statement accepting responsibility for a given act or omission made by a person as a condition of being dealt with by environmental protection alternative measures is admissible in evidence against the person in any civil or criminal proceedings.

(4) Where environmental protection alternative measures have been used to deal with a person alleged to have committed an offence, the court shall dismiss the charge laid against the person in respect of that offence where the court is satisfied on a balance of probabilities that the person has complied with the agreement.

(5) The use of environmental protection alternative measures in respect of a person who is alleged to have committed an offence is not a bar to any proceedings against the person under this Act.

(6) This section does not prevent any person from laying an information, obtaining the issue or confirmation of any process, or proceeding with the prosecution of any offence, in accordance with the law.

297. Where an information in respect of an offence of contravening an agreement under section 272 has been laid and proceedings in respect of the alleged offence for which the agreement was entered into have been recommenced, the court imposing a sentence for either offence shall take into account, in addition to the factors referred to in section 287, any sentence that has previously been imposed for the other offence.

298. (1) An agreement may contain any terms and conditions, including, but not limited to,

(a) terms and conditions having any or all of the effects set out in section 291 or any other terms and conditions having any of the effects prescribed by the regulations that the Attorney General, after consulting with the Minister, considers appropriate; and

(b) terms and conditions relating to the costs of laboratory tests and of field tests, travel and living expenses, costs of scientific analyses and other reasonable costs associated with supervising and verifying compliance with the agreement.

(2) Any governmental or non-governmental body may supervise compliance with an agreement.

299. An agreement comes into force on the day on which it is signed or on any later day that is specified in the agreement and continues in force for the period, not exceeding three years, specified in the agreement.

300. (1) Subject to subsection (5), the Attorney General shall consult with the Minister before entering into an agreement and shall cause the agreement to be filed, as part of the court record of the proceedings to which the public has access, with the court in which the information was laid, within 30 days after the agreement was entered into.

(2) A report relating to the administration of or compliance with an agreement shall, immediately after all the terms and conditions of the agreement have been complied with or the charges in respect of which the agreement was entered into have been dismissed, be filed with the court in which the agreement was filed in accordance with subsection (1).

(3) Subject to subsection (4), the following information that is to be part of an agreement or the report referred to in subsection (2) must be set out in a schedule to the agreement or to the report:

(a) trade secrets of any person;

(b) financial, commercial, scientific or technical information that is confidential information and that is treated consistently in a confidential manner by any person;

(c) information the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to result in material financial loss or gain to, or could reasonably be expected to prejudice the competitive position of, any person; or

(d) information the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to interfere with contractual or other negotiations of any person.

(4) The parties to an agreement must agree on which information that is to be part of an agreement or a report is information that meets the requirements of paragraphs (3)(a) to (d).

(5) A schedule to an agreement or to the report referred to in subsection (2) is confidential and shall not be filed with the court.

(6) The Minister shall not disclose any information set out in a schedule to the agreement or to the report referred to in subsection (2), except under section 307 or under the Access to Information Act.

301. A copy of every agreement and report referred to in subsection 300(2) and every agreement that has been varied under subsection 303(1), or a notice that the agreement or report has been filed in court and is available to the public, shall be included in the Environmental Registry.

302. Despite section 579 of the Criminal Code,

(a) the Attorney General shall, on filing the agreement, stay the proceedings or apply to the court for an adjournment of the proceedings in respect of the offence alleged to have been committed for a period of not more than one year after the expiry of the agreement; and

(b) proceedings stayed in accordance with paragraph (a) may be recommenced, without laying a new information or preferring a new indictment, as the case may be, by the Attorney General giving notice of the recommencement to the clerk of the court in which the stay of the proceedings was entered, but where no such notice is given within one year after the expiry of the agreement, the proceedings are deemed never to have been commenced.

303. (1) Subject to subsection 300(5), the Attorney General may, on application by the person bound by an agreement and after consulting with the Minister, vary the agreement in one or both of the following ways that, in the opinion of the Attorney General, is rendered desirable by a material change in the circumstances since the agreement was entered into or last varied:

(a) make any changes to the agreement or to its terms and conditions; or

(b) decrease the period for which the agreement is to remain in force or relieve the person, either absolutely or partially or for any period that the Attorney General considers desirable, of compliance with any condition that is specified in the agreement.

(2) An agreement that has been varied under subsection (1) shall be filed with the court in which the original agreement was filed in accordance with section 300.

304. Sections 305 to 307 apply only to persons who have entered into an agreement, regardless of the degree of their compliance with its terms and conditions.

305. (1) A record that relates to an offence that is alleged to have been committed by a person, including the original or a copy of any fingerprints or photographs of the person, may be kept by any police force or body responsible for, or participating in, the investigation of the offence.

(2) An enforcement officer or other peace officer may disclose to any person any information in a record kept under this section that it is necessary to disclose in the conduct of the investigation of an offence.

(3) An enforcement officer or other peace officer may disclose to an insurance company any information in a record kept under this section that it is necessary to disclose for the purpose of investigating a claim arising out of an offence that is committed or alleged to have been committed by the person to whom the record relates.

306. (1) The Minister, enforcement officers and analysts and any department or agency of a government in Canada with which the Minister has entered into an agreement under section 308 may keep records and use information obtained as a result of the use of environmental protection alternative measures to deal with a person

(a) for the purposes of an inspection under this Act or an investigation of an offence under this Act that is alleged to have been committed by the person;

(b) in proceedings against the person under this Act;

(c) for the purpose of the administration of environmental protection alternative measures programs; or

(d) otherwise for the purposes of the administration or enforcement of this Act.

(2) Any person may keep the records and use the information obtained by the person as a result of supervising compliance with an agreement that are necessary for the purpose of supervising compliance with the agreement.

307. (1) Any record or information referred to in section 305 or 306 may be made available to

(a) any judge or court for any purpose that relates to proceedings relating to offences that are committed or alleged to have been committed by the person to whom the record relates;

(b) any prosecutor, enforcement officer or other peace officer

(i) for the purpose of investigating an offence that the person is suspected on reasonable grounds of having committed, or in respect of which the person has been arrested or charged, or

(ii) for any purpose that relates to the administration of the case to which the record relates;

(c) any member of a department or agency of a government in Canada, or any agent of such a department or agency, that is

(i) engaged in the administration of environmental protection alternative measures in respect of the person, or

(ii) preparing a report in respect of the person under this Act; or

(d) any other person who is deemed, or any person within a class of persons that is deemed, by a judge of a court to have a valid interest in the record, to the extent directed by the judge, if the judge is satisfied that the disclosure is

(i) desirable in the public interest for research or statistical purposes, or

(ii) desirable in the interest of the proper administration of justice,

and if that person gives a written undertaking not to subsequently disclose the information except in accordance with subsection (2).

(2) Where a record is made available to a person under subparagraph (1)(d)(i), the person may subsequently disclose information contained in the record, but shall not disclose it in any form that could reasonably be expected to identify the person to whom it relates and any other person specified by the judge.

(3) Any person to whom a record is authorized to be made available under this section may be given any information that is contained in the record and may be given a copy of any part of the record.

(4) Nothing in this section authorizes the introduction into evidence of any part of a record that would not otherwise be admissible in evidence.

(5) For greater certainty, this section does not apply to an agreement, a varied agreement or report that is filed with the court in accordance with section 300.

308. The Minister may enter into an agreement with a department or agency of a government in Canada respecting the exchange of information for the purpose of administering environmental protection alternative measures or preparing a report in respect of a person’s compliance with an agreement.

309. The Minister may make regulations respecting the environmental protection alternative measures that may be used for the purposes of this Act including, but not limited to, regulations

(a) excluding specified offences under this Act from the application of those measures;

(b) prescribing the form and manner in which and the period within which an application to participate in the measures is to be made, and the information that must be contained in or accompany the application;

(c) respecting the manner of preparing and filing reports relating to the administration of and compliance with agreements;

(d) respecting the types of reasonable costs and the manner of paying the costs associated with supervising and verifying compliance with an agreement; and

(e) respecting the terms and conditions that may be provided for in an agreement and their effects.

310. (1) Despite anything in this Act, the Governor in Council may, by regulation, on the recommendation of the Minister, designate any offence under this Act as an offence with respect to which, despite the Criminal Code, an enforcement officer may lay an information and issue and serve a summons by completing a ticket in the prescribed form, affixing to it the enforcement officer’s signature and delivering it to the person who is alleged to have committed the offence specified in it at the time the offence is alleged to have been committed.

(2) Any regulations made under this section

(a) shall establish a procedure for entering a plea and paying a fine in respect of each offence to which the regulations relate;

(b) shall prescribe the amount of the fine to be paid in respect of each offence; and

(c) may prescribe any other matter necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.

(3) Where a person is served with a ticket and does not enter a plea within the time prescribed by the regulations, a justice shall examine the ticket and

(a) if the ticket is complete and regular on its face, the justice shall enter a conviction in the person’s absence and impose a fine of the prescribed amount; or

(b) if the ticket is not complete and regular on its face, the justice shall quash the proceedings.

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

(a) to refrain from doing any act or thing that it appears to the court may constitute or be directed toward the commission of an offence under this Act; or

(b) to do any act or thing that it appears to the court may prevent the commission of an offence under this Act.

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

312. In a prosecution for a contravention of a provision of Division 5 of Part 7 by a company engaged in the business of assembling or altering vehicles, it is a defence for the company to establish that the contravention occurred as a result of work previously done on a vehicle by another company engaged in the manufacture of the vehicle.