The Canadian Competition Act was recently amended to, among other things, criminalize wage-fixing and no-poach agreements between unaffiliated employers. Following a one-year grace period that permitted Canadian employers to ensure they are in compliance, the criminal prohibition will come into effect on 23 June 2023.
Consumers and investors alike are increasingly shifting their focus towards both “green” products and investments in sustainable businesses and those with aspirational environmental and climate goals. Since environmental and sustainability claims have become ever more powerful marketing tools, they are also increasingly vulnerable to complaints of “greenwashing” — the practice of overstating the environmental characteristics or benefits of a company or a product.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled Canada Enacts Sanctions Against Moldova on 2 June 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
On 27 May 2023 the Canada Border Services Agency introduced amendments to the Valuation for Duty Regulations, which will alter existing Canadian customs valuation rules. The Amendments intend to clarify the “sale” used to establish the value for duty under the transaction value method for all goods imported into Canada. Effectively, the Amendments propose a “last sale” approach to customs valuation, which has the potential to increase the declared value for duty of imported goods, directly increasing duties and taxes owing, and indirectly increasing the cost of doing business in Canada.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled Canada Announces Additional Sanctions in Relation to Russia and Updates Guidance on Sanctions Evasion on 24 May 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
On 3 April 2023, significant amendments to the Canadian Securities Exchange listing policies came into force. Notably, the amendments are comprehensive in that they revise each of the CSE’s ten policies and create greater consistency between the policies of the CSE and other Canadian stock exchanges such as the Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange.
On 3 May 2023, Canada announced further amendments to the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations in response to Iran’s “gross and systematic human rights violations in Iran and abroad.” These amendments list an additional nine individuals and one entity under Schedule 1 of the Regulations and entered into force on 28 April 2023.
The Government of Canada recently introduced Part 1 of the budget implementation bill, which completed its second reading before the House of Commons and has been referred to the Standing Committee on Finance. The Bill proposes novel amendments, including “deemed ownership” provisions to the Special Economic Measures Act and the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act and it demonstrates that the Government intends to rely on existing anti-money laundering enforcement regimes to eliminate sanctions circumvention and enforce sanctions compliance. Additionally, the Bill seeks to expand the Government’s authority to prohibit activities with specific persons under the SEMA.
This article provides an overview of the global rise in human and labor rights legislation linked to trade measures. In particular, it examines: Canada’s efforts to enforce the existing import prohibitions on goods mined or manufactured with forced labor under the Customs Tariff; compliance under the recently passed Bill S-211, Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act and to amend the Customs Tariff which comes into force on 1 January 2024; and the need for Canadian businesses to develop compliance measures on the import prohibition under the Customs Tariff, the new reporting requirements under Bill S-211, and the importance of continuing enterprise and supply chain scrutiny.
On 13 April 2023, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published a request for comments due by 12 July 2023. The CSA proposes two approaches to enhance the disclosure requirements of non-venture issuers that were previously adopted by most CSA jurisdictions in 2014 regarding corporate governance practices pertaining to board nomination, board renewal and diversity on boards and in executive officer positions. The proposals are designed to increase transparency about diversity and to provide investors with useful information to better understand how diversity is addressed by an issuer. The CSA has also requested comments on adapting similar diversity disclosure requirements to venture issuers in the future.