Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act

Prohibitions

Pursuant to the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, Canada has imposed targeted measures against foreign nationals who are, in the opinion of the Governor in Council, responsible for or complicit in gross violations of human rights; or are public officials or an associate of such an official, who are responsible for or complicit in acts of significant corruption.

The Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Regulations prohibit persons in Canada and Canadians outside Canada from:

• Dealing, directly or indirectly, in any property, wherever situated, of the listed foreign national;
• Entering into or facilitating, directly or indirectly, any financial transaction related to a dealing described above;
• Providing or acquiring financial or other related services to, for the benefit of, or on the direction or order of the listed foreign national; and
• Making available any property, wherever situated, to the listed foreign national or to a person acting on behalf of the listed foreign national.

The Schedule to the Regulations lists these foreign nationals, who are also inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

Permits and Certificates

A separate Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Permit Authorization Order made pursuant to subsection 4(4) of the Act authorizes the Minister of Foreign Affairs to issue permits and general permits to persons in Canada and Canadians outside Canada to carry out a specified activity or transaction, or class of activity or transaction, that is otherwise prohibited under the Act or the Regulations.

Pursuant to the Act, any person in Canada or any Canadian outside Canada whose name is the same as or similar to the name of a foreign national who is the subject of an order or regulation made under this Law may, if they claim not to be that foreign national, apply to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in writing for a certificate stating that they are not that foreign national.

Delisting Applications

A foreign national who is the subject of an order or regulation made under the Act may apply in writing to the Minister of Foreign Affairs to cease being the subject of the order or regulation.

More information regarding delisting applications can be found on the Listed Persons page.

Recent actions

On June 29, 2021, Bill C-30, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on April 19, 2021 and other measures, received Royal Assent. This bill included an amendment to s. 7(1) of the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act. As a result of this amendment, entities referred to in section 6 of the Act are no longer required to submit monthly “nil” reports to their regulator if they do not have any property belonging to a listed person in their possession or control. Reporting entities are still required to disclose, without delay, the existence of such property in their possession or control, and the frequency of subsequent reporting has also changed from once every month to once every three months.

Background

Bill S-226, the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, was passed and received Royal Assent on October 18, 2017.

After entering into force, Bill S-226 not only created a new legal framework, but it also amended other legislation, including the Special Economic Measures Act. The new Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act allows the Governor in Council (GIC) to make orders and regulations to restrict dealings in property and freeze the assets of foreign nationals, if the GIC is of the opinion that the circumstances described below have occurred:

• a foreign national is responsible for or complicit in, gross violations of internationally-recognized human rights against individuals in any foreign state who seek to obtain, exercise, defend or promote internationally-recognized human rights and freedoms or who seek to expose illegal activities carried out by a foreign public official;
• a foreign national acts as an agent of or on behalf of a foreign state in a matter relating to an activity described above;
• a foreign public official, or an associate, is responsible for or complicit in ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing acts of significant corruption; or
• a foreign national has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material or technological support for, or goods or services in support of, an act of significant corruption by a foreign public official or their associate.

Bill S-226 also contained amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act which render inadmissible to Canada persons, other than permanent residents, who are subject to orders and regulations made under the new Act.

On November 3, 2017, Canada imposed sanctions pursuant to the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act by enacting the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Regulations. These Regulations were made in response to three different sets of circumstances related to the case of Sergei Magnitsky, and incidents of corruption and gross human rights violations by officials linked to the Maduro regime in Venezuela and by officials in South Sudan.

On February 16, 2018, Canada amended the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Regulations to include an additional foreign national from Myanmar, who is, in the opinion of the Governor in Council, responsible for, or complicit in, gross violations of internationally-recognized human rights against the Rohingya in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State.

On November 29, 2018, Canada amended the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Regulations to include 17 foreign nationals from Saudi Arabia, who, in the opinion of the Governor in Council, are responsible for or complicit in gross violations of internationally-recognized human rights, particularly the torture and extrajudicial killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

On August 4, 2023, Canada amended the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Regulations to include 3 Lebanese nationals, who in the opinion of the Governor in Council, were involved in acts of significant corruption, including the misappropriation of public assets for personal gain and the transfer of the proceeds of corruption to foreign States.

On December 7, 2023, Canada amended the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Regulations to include 2 Iranian, 4 Russian and 1 Myanmar individual, who in the opinion of the Governor in Council, played a role in long-standing human rights violations in their countries.

Selected documents

Legal advice

Please be advised that Global Affairs Canada cannot provide legal advice to members of the public. For this reason, we cannot deliver an opinion as to whether or not a specific activity or transaction would contravene sanctions legislation. You should consider seeking legal advice in relation to an activity that may contravene a Canadian sanction law.