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Quarantine Act (S.C. 2005, c. 20)

Full Document:  

Act current to 2024-03-06 and last amended on 2020-03-17. Previous Versions

Conveyances (continued)

Marginal note:When compliance not required

 No person is required to carry out an order under subsection 39(1) if doing so would expose them to a danger as defined in subsection 122(1) of the Canada Labour Code.

Marginal note:Notice to provincial public health authority

  •  (1) As soon as practicable, an environmental health officer shall inform the provincial public health authority of any province concerned if

    • (a) a conveyance has been diverted under section 35; or

    • (b) the environmental health officer has ordered anything to be done under subsection 39(1).

  • Marginal note:Disclosure of information

    (2) The environmental health officer shall disclose to the provincial public health authority the following information regarding the conveyance, to the extent that it is known:

    • (a) a description of the conveyance and its itinerary;

    • (b) everything ordered to be done under subsection 39(1) and the reasons why it was ordered to be done;

    • (c) the communicable disease in question; and

    • (d) the name and location of the operator of the conveyance and of any person using it for the business of carrying persons or cargo.

  • Marginal note:Disclosure to provincial public health authority

    (3) The environmental health officer may disclose confidential business information or personal information obtained under this Act to the provincial public health authority if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the disclosure is necessary to prevent the spread of a communicable disease.

Marginal note:Costs of carrying out order

  •  (1) A person who is subject to an order referred to in section 39 shall pay any cost of carrying out the order.

  • Marginal note:Detention until costs paid

    (2) An environmental health officer may detain the conveyance and its contents until the cost of carrying out the order has been paid.

Marginal note:Minister may require security deposit from owner of conveyance

  •  (1) A person engaged in the business of carrying persons or cargo shall, when required by the Minister to do so, deposit with the Minister any sum of money or other security that the Minister considers necessary as a guarantee that the person will comply with this Act.

  • Marginal note:Payment out of security deposited

    (2) The Minister may pay from the deposited money, or the proceeds of sale of the security, a fine or costs incurred by the person if

    • (a) the person fails to pay any amount under subsection 41(1) or publication costs under paragraph 80(1)(g) or subsection 80(3); or

    • (b) the person is convicted of an offence under this Act and fails to pay a fine.

  • Marginal note:Return of security

    (3) The Minister shall return the money or other security if, in the opinion of the Minister, that security is no longer required.

Marginal note:Compensation to owners

 The Minister may compensate the owner of any conveyance, cargo or other thing that is damaged or destroyed under section 39 or 40 in an amount equal to the market value, as determined by the Minister, that the property had at the time of its damage or destruction, less any amount that the owner received or is entitled to receive in respect of it from salvage, insurance or any other source.

Cadavers, Body Parts and Other Human Remains

Marginal note:Obligation of operator

  •  (1) Every operator carrying a cadaver, a body part or other human remains into Canada shall provide a copy of the death certificate to the screening officer at the entry point.

  • Marginal note:No death certificate or communicable disease

    (2) If the operator does not provide a death certificate or the screening officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that the cadaver, body part or other human remains have or might have a communicable disease or are infested with vectors, the screening officer shall immediately inform a quarantine officer and follow any directive of that officer respecting the matter.

  • Marginal note:Directive

    (3) The operator shall comply with any directive of the quarantine officer respecting the cadaver, body part or other human remains.

Marginal note:Prohibition

 No person shall export a cadaver, a body part or other human remains that have or might have a communicable disease listed in the schedule unless the exportation is in accordance with the regulations or is authorized by the Minister.

Marginal note:Exception

 Sections 44 and 45 do not apply to the import or export of cells, tissues or organs for transplantation that are imported or exported in accordance with the Food and Drugs Act.

General Powers

Marginal note:Powers of inspection

  •  (1) A quarantine officer or an environmental health officer may, to determine whether a conveyance or place, or any contents within it, could be the source of a communicable disease, or whether a traveller has or might have a communicable disease or is infested with vectors, and to enforce this Act,

    • (a) stop a conveyance, at an entry or departure point or anywhere else in Canada, and direct that it be moved to a place where an inspection can be carried out;

    • (b) enter and inspect the conveyance or any place where the conveyance has been;

    • (c) open and examine any cargo, container, baggage, package or other thing;

    • (d) require any person to produce any record under any terms and conditions that, in the opinion of the officer, are necessary to carry out the inspection;

    • (e) except with respect to a traveller, conduct or cause to be conducted any test or analysis or take or cause to be taken any sample; and

    • (f) except with respect to a traveller, take any measurement.

  • Marginal note:Operation of data processing systems and copying equipment

    (2) In conducting the inspection, the officer may

    • (a) use or cause to be used any computer or data processing system to examine any data contained in or available to it;

    • (b) obtain data in the form of a printout or other intelligible output and take the printout or other output for examination or copying; and

    • (c) use or cause to be used any copying equipment to make copies of any record or other document.

  • Marginal note:Powers of the screening officer

    (3) A screening officer may exercise any of the powers set out in this section, other than those set out in paragraph (1)(e).

Marginal note:Warrant required to enter dwelling-place

  •  (1) A quarantine officer and an environmental health officer may not enter or inspect a dwelling-place without the consent of its occupant except under the authority of a warrant.

  • Marginal note:Authority to issue warrant

    (2) A justice may, on ex parte application, at any time sign and issue a warrant authorizing the officer named in it to enter and inspect a dwelling-place, subject to any conditions that may be specified in the warrant, if the justice is satisfied by information on oath that

    • (a) the dwelling-place or its contents could be the source of a communicable disease;

    • (b) entry to the dwelling-place is necessary for a purpose relating to the administration of this Act; and

    • (c) entry to the dwelling-place has been refused or there are reasonable grounds to believe that it will be refused.

  • Marginal note:Use of force

    (3) A quarantine officer or an environmental health officer who executes a warrant shall not use force unless they are accompanied by a peace officer and the use of force is specifically authorized in the warrant.

Marginal note:Public officer powers

 A quarantine officer and an environmental health officer are public officers for the purposes of the application of section 487 of the Criminal Code in respect of an offence under this Act.

Marginal note:Assistance to quarantine officer or environmental health officer

 The owner or the person in charge of a place or conveyance inspected by a quarantine officer or an environmental health officer under section 47 and any person found in the place shall

  • (a) give the officer all reasonable assistance to enable the officer to perform their duties and functions under this Act; and

  • (b) provide the officer with any information relevant to the administration of this Act that the officer may reasonably request.

Marginal note:Compelling production of information

 A quarantine officer or an environmental health officer may order any person to provide any information or record in their possession about a traveller that the officer may reasonably require in the performance of the officer’s duties and functions under this Act, or to give the officer access to such information.

Marginal note:Peace officer to assist officer acting under this Act

 A peace officer shall provide any assist­ance that an officer acting under this Act may request for the purpose of administering or enforcing this Act.

Marginal note:Exercise of powers outside Canada

 A screening officer, a quarantine officer or an environmental health officer may exercise any power or perform any duty or function under this Act respecting a traveller or conveyance at an entry point in another country if doing so does not conflict with the laws of that country.

Information

Marginal note:Report of contravention

  •  (1) A person who, in good faith, reports to a screening officer, a quarantine officer or an environmental health officer a contravention of this Act by another person, or the reasonable likelihood of such a contravention, may request that their identity, and any information that could reasonably reveal their identity, not be disclosed to their employer or the other person.

  • Marginal note:Confidentiality

    (2) Subject to any other Act of Parliament, no person shall disclose or permit the disclosure of that identity or information unless authorized in writing by the person who made the request.

  • Marginal note:Protection of person

    (3) Despite any other Act of Parliament, no person shall dismiss, suspend, demote, discipline, deny a benefit of employment to, harass or otherwise disadvantage a person for having

    • (a) made a report under subsection (1);

    • (b) refused or stated an intention of refusing to do anything that they believed on reasonable grounds was or would be a contravention under this Act; or

    • (c) done or stated an intention to do anything that they believed on reasonable grounds was required under this Act.

Marginal note:Collection of medical information

 The Minister may collect relevant medical information in order to carry out the purposes of this Act.

Marginal note:Disclosure to governments, etc.

  •  (1) The Minister may disclose confidential business information or personal information obtained under this Act to a department or to an agency of the Government of Canada or of a province, a government or public health authority, whether domestic or foreign, a health practitioner or an international health organization if the Minister has reasonable grounds to believe that the disclosure is necessary to prevent the spread of a communicable disease or to enable Canada to fulfill its international obligations.

  • Marginal note:Disclosure to person in transport business

    (2) The Minister may disclose personal information obtained under this Act to a person engaged in the business of carrying persons or cargo, or to an international transportation organization, if the Minister has reasonable grounds to believe that the person to whom the information relates has or might have a communicable disease, or has recently been in close proximity to a person who has or might have a communicable disease, and that the disclosure is necessary to prevent the spread of the disease.

  • Marginal note:Notification of disclosure

    (3) If any personal information or confidential business information is disclosed under this section, the Minister shall notify the person or business to whom the information relates of the disclosure.

Marginal note:Disclosure for law enforcement purposes

 If the Minister has reasonable grounds to suspect that information obtained in the administration of this Act would be relevant to investigating or prosecuting an offence under Part II.1 of the Criminal Code involving an infectious agent or biological toxin, the Minister may disclose any of the following information to a peace officer:

  • (a) the name, sex, age and date of birth of the traveller;

  • (b) a photograph of the traveller and any other means of identifying them;

  • (c) the traveller’s itinerary, home address and location;

  • (d) the description of any conveyance used for carrying the traveller;

  • (e) the name of the infectious agent or biological toxin; and

  • (f) the manner in which the traveller may have acquired the communicable disease or vectors.

Emergency Orders

Marginal note:Order prohibiting entry into Canada

  •  (1) The Governor in Council may make an order prohibiting or subjecting to any condition the entry into Canada of any class of persons who have been in a foreign country or a specified part of a foreign country if the Governor in Council is of the opinion that

    • (a) there is an outbreak of a communicable disease in the foreign country;

    • (b) the introduction or spread of the disease would pose an imminent and severe risk to public health in Canada;

    • (c) the entry of members of that class of persons into Canada may introduce or contribute to the spread of the communicable disease in Canada; and

    • (d) no reasonable alternatives to prevent the introduction or spread of the disease are available.

  • Marginal note:Effect of order

    (2) The order has effect for the period specified in it and may be renewed if the conditions in subsection (1) continue to apply.

Marginal note:Prohibition on importing

 The Governor in Council may make an order prohibiting or subjecting to any condition the importing of any thing into Canada or any part of Canada, either generally or from any place named in the order, for any period that the Governor in Council considers necessary for the purpose of preventing the introduction or spread of a communicable disease in Canada.

Marginal note:Interim orders

  •  (1) The Minister may make an interim order containing any provision that could be contained in a regulation made under section 62 or 63 if the Minister is of the opinion that immediate action is required to deal with a significant risk, direct or indirect, to public health.

  • Marginal note:Cessation of effect

    (2) The interim order has effect from the time that it is made but ceases to have effect on the earliest of

    • (a) 14 days after the day on which it is made, unless it is approved by the Governor in Council,

    • (b) the day on which it is repealed,

    • (c) the day on which a regulation made under section 62 or 63 that has the same effect as the interim order comes into force, and

    • (d) one year after the day on which it is made or any shorter period that it specifies.

  • Marginal note:Deeming

    (3) For the purpose of any provision of this Act other than this section, any reference to regulations made under this Act is deemed to include interim orders, and any reference to a regulation made under a specified provision of this Act is deemed to include a reference to any portion of an interim order containing a provision that may be contained in a regulation made under the specified provision.

 

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