Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), (b) and (c), Canada’s sanctions regime prohibits persons in Canada and Canadians abroad from engaging in activities related to the property of sanctioned persons, including the provision of financial or related services. As a result, the assets of sanctioned persons are effectively frozen. They cannot be sold and they cannot be transferred, making transactions involving these assets prohibited.
Together with like-minded international partners, the Government of Canada evaluates potential targets for sanctions that would have the greatest impact on the Russian government and put maximum pressure on President Putin.
Through budget 2022, the Government of Canada is proposing amendments to the Special Economic Measures Act and the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act that will allow courts to order seized or restrained property belonging to sanctioned persons, including Russian elites, oligarchs and their proxies, to be forfeited to the Crown.
The proceeds generated from forfeited assets may be used for the reconstruction of a foreign state adversely affected by grave breaches of international peace and security, the restoration of international peace and security, and the compensation of victims affected by grave breaches of international peace and security, gross and systematic human rights violations or acts of significant corruption.
The management and disposal of assets are expected to be handled by the Minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada under the Seized Property Management Act. These changes will make Canada’s sanctions regime a leader in the G7.
The Government of Canada has also recently proposed legislation that would render foreign nationals sanctioned in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine inadmissible to Canada. These changes would allow Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada officials to deny temporary visas overseas. They would also allow the Canada Border Services Agency to deny entry to, and remove, individuals subjected to sanctions.
Federally regulated financial institutions, or FRFIs, are regulated and supervised by Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, OSFI. This includes foreign banks operating in Canada. OSFI expects FRFIs to comply with all relevant Canadian sanctions legislation and to ensure they have adequate procedures in place to comply on an ongoing basis with existing laws and any future laws.
Disclosures on the existence of sanctioned assets are made by reporting entities, such as Canadian financial institutions, to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the RCMP.
The approach adopted by the Government of Canada has been to use sanctions authorities under section 4(1)(a) of both the Special Economic Measures Act, or SEMA, and the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, or JVCFOA, to prohibit certain activities through regulations made under the relevant acts.