Parliamentary Committee Notes: Sanctions to Date

Branch/Agency:

PS/PACB/IAD

Issue:

The imposition of sanctions against designated individuals and entities in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine and Public Safety’s role in enforcing them.

Proposed Response:

• Individuals and entities complicit in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine must be held accountable.
• In this year alone, Canada has introduced sanctions against more than 1,050 individuals and entities in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, in close coordination with the international community.
• Canada has also adopted measures targeting specific goods and sectors, including a complete ban on crude oil imports from Russia.
• We continue to work with allies and partners to identify and close any remaining legal loopholes that Russia or Belarus may seek to exploit for evasion purposes.
• CBSA and RCMP play an important role within Canada’s sanctions framework, investigating and enforcing offences or violations by entities designated under SEMA.
• To make Canada’s sanctions regime even more robust, the Government has introduced amendments to IRPA (S-8) that would ensure sanctioned persons cannot take refuge in Canada, and to SEMA (in C-19) that would enable seizure, forfeiture, and disposal of sanctioned assets. 

Background:

Canadian sanctions related to Russia are authorized under the Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA). Since Russia’s illegal occupation and attempted annexation of Crimea in 2014, Canada has imposed sanctions on more than 1,500 individuals and entities in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, including over 1,050 individuals and entities added in 2022 alone. They include members of the ruling elite, decision-makers, oligarchs, state-owned company executives, and other individuals complicit in the Russian aggression of Ukraine.

In most cases, these sanctions prohibit persons in Canada and Canadians abroad from engaging in any activity related to the property of listed persons or providing related financial services to them. In addition, most designated individuals are subject to an asset freeze and are inadmissible to Canadian territory. Similarly, Canada has adopted several measures targeting individual goods and sectors, such as the technological, financial and energy sectors, including various export prohibitions and a complete ban on crude oil imports from Russia. As a result, Canada has been at the forefront of efforts to strengthen the international sanctions regime against Russia, announcing new sanctions almost weekly in close coordination with allies and partners.

Specific sanctions introduced to date under new SEMA Regulations include:

• February 28: added 18 individuals, including President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defence, Finance and Justice; and moved three entities to the list of entities prohibited from all financial transactions and trade in goods and technology.
• March 4: added 10 executives in the energy sector, working for the state-owned or controlled oil entities Rosneft or Gazprom.
• March 6: added 10 current or former senior government officials and their close associates, and agents of disinformation; and prohibited any Russian-affiliated ship from docking in Canada or passing through Canadian waters.
• March 10: added 32 defense entities, most of which are owned by the state or have contracts with the government of Russia; added five current and former senior officials and associates of the regime; and prohibited any person in Canada and any Canadian outside Canada from importing specific petroleum products, including crude oil.
• March 14: added 15 senior officials of the government of Russia, now subject to a broad dealings ban.
• March 23: added 160 members of the Russian Federation Council, now subject to a broad dealings ban. With these names, all members of the Russian Federation Council are now sanctioned by Canada.
• March 24: prohibited the export of certain goods and technologies to Russia, including a broad range of items in the areas of electronics, computers, telecommunications, sensors and lasers, navigation and avionics, marine, aerospace and transportation.
• April 5: prohibited the provision of all insurance, reinsurance, and underwriting services for aircraft, aviation and aerospace products either owned by, controlled by, registered to, chartered by, or operated by entities and individuals resident, incorporated, or domiciled in Russia; and listed an additional nine oligarchs and their family members, and regime associates.
• April 8, 19 and 26: listed an additional 33 entities from the defence sector which directly or indirectly facilitate or support the violation of the sovereignty or territorial integrity of Ukraine; added 14 close associates of the Russian regime having enabled violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty; listed members of the People’s Councils of the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics of Ukraine.
• May 3, 6 and 18: added 21 close associates of the Russian regime, including Russian oligarchs and their family members; introduced sanctions on 19 senior defence officials and 5 entities that have provided indirect or direct support to the Russian military; added             12 senior defence officials; banned the import/export of targeted luxury goods to Russia, including alcoholic beverages, tobacco, luxury clothing and accessories, jewelry, and art; and prohibited the export of goods that could be used in the production and manufacture of weapons by Russia.
• May 27: added 22 individuals and 4 entities, including senior officials of Russian financial institutions and their family members, as well as key financial institutions and banks.

Public Safety Portfolio Role Under SEMA

Public Safety’s Portfolio plays an important role within Canada’s sanctions framework. Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) investigate and enforce offences or violations against entities designated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs under SEMA. These enforcement-related activities consist of border inspection, identity verification, import/export review, evidence gathering, asset tracing, and arrets, etc.

CBSA regularly receives updates from GAC regarding new individuals, entities or goods that are subject to sanctions and ensures that frontline Border Service Officers are well supported to prevent the entry or export of goods in all streams including marine, air, land, rail and courier/postal. On    May 17, CBSA introduced legislative amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) under Senate Bill S-8. After coming into force, this Bill will ensure that foreign nationals subject to sanctions under SEMA are simultaneously inadmissible to Canada. It will enable CBSA to deny entry to, and remove, individuals subjected to sanctions, and will allow IRCC officials to deny visas.

Some legal hurdles remain to be addressed in Canada. For example, the authorities to seize and seek forfeiture of designated entities/individuals’ assets under SEMA are limited, making Canadian sanctions possibly less coercive. The Budget Implementation Act 2022 (Bill C-19) features proposals for the amendment of SEMA for operationalizing the seizure, forfeiture and disposal of sanctioned assets. After completing Second Reading, the Bill was referred to the House Standing Committee on Finance for Study, where it remains. Other priorities involve solidifying the assets confiscation procedures and defining the roles and responsibilities of the involved federal partners.

International Engagement on Sanctions

Internationally, the coordination of sanctions on Russia has taken place predominantly through the G7 and its associated Foreign Ministers Track. In addition, earlier this year, the U.S. led the establishment of a G7 Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs (REPO) multilateral task force, with Canada’s participation led by the Minister of Finance with support from Public Safety and its Portfolio. Canada and other members of this fora are currently working on consolidating a priority list of commonly targeted individuals and entities, alongside identifying and closing any remaining legal loopholes or disparities between national legislations that Russia or Belarus may seek to exploit for evasion purposes.

Contacts:

Prepared by: Antoine Got, Policy Advisor (613) 240-8572

Approved by: Leanne Maidment, A/ADM, Portfolio Affairs and Communications Branch, 343-553-4578

Date modified:

2023-03-14