Implications For Your Business

A paradigm shift

Until now, enforcement of the EQA relied on two mechanisms: (i) administrative penalties, including enforcement notices, AMPs (fines imposed directly by the Ministry, comparable to a traffic fine, capped at $10,000) or orders; and (ii) penal prosecutions (a more serious legal procedure).

Before the increase in minimum fines, the financial gap between AMPs and minimum penal fines was small. The Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DCPP) therefore had little incentive to bring costly prosecutions when a simple AMP produced a similar financial result.

This dynamic has now been reversed. The gap between a maximum AMP ($10,000) and a minimum penal fine (up to $300,000 per day) is such that the DCPP now has at its disposal a significantly more deterrent and coercive tool to penalize environmental offences, which suggests there will be a significant increase in penal prosecutions

Beyond fines: the other consequences

Penal proceedings are not limited to fines. In the event of a conviction, a court may also order

prison sentences of up to five years minus one day in the case of a repeat offence;
environmental restoration;
the formulation of a pollution prevention plan and an emergency plan;
environmental monitoring at the offender’s expense; and
a payment into the Green Fund.

Furthermore, in the case of penal convictions for breach of environmental laws, convictions will generally be published – a significant blot on the reputation of any listed company or company with connections to institutional partners. The EQA and the Act respecting certain measures enabling the enforcement of environmental and dam safety legislation, CQLR c M-11.6, confer additional powers on the Minister in the event of a conviction, including the power to refuse to issue, amend or renew a ministerial authorization.

Directors’ and officers’ personal liability

Directors and officers are not immune, although the minimum amounts of fines have not changed as they relate to them. The regime still provides for fines that are double those imposed on ordinary individuals. The prescription period is five years following the offence, and two years following an inspection or investigation in cases involving false statements or hazardous materials.

What past convictions reveal

According to the Ministry of the Environment’s Registry of Convictions (Registre des déclarations de culpabilité du MELCCFP), from January 1, 2022 to September 2, 2026, the highest fine imposed was $100,000 on two occasions, although these cases did not involve any activity covered by the increase in minimum fines.

For the discharge of contaminants, the average fine imposed by the courts was $27,340, which is slightly below the minimum of $30,000. The new minimum of $300,000 will therefore bring fines for designated activities to a level roughly 11 times higher than the historical average for convictions.

For failure to comply with an authorization condition, the average was $9,133, barely above the minimum of $7,500. The new minimum of $75,000 represents an eightfold increase compared with the existing practice of the DCPP and the courts.

A national trend: parallel at the Federal level

This increase in Québec aligns with a national trend towards tougher environmental penalties. At the federal level, the Environmental Enforcement Act (2009) had already introduced minimum fines and raised the upper limits for several federal laws.

The most striking precedent remains the $196.5 million fine imposed on Volkswagen under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), under which Act minimum fines for major corporations amount to $500,000, with maximum fines of $6,000,000 ($12,000,000 for repeat offences). Similar increases apply under the Migratory Birds Convention Act and the Canada National Parks Act. The message is the same on every level: environmental fines are no longer merely symbolic.

More recently, in May 2026, ArcelorMittal Mining Canada G.P. was ordered to pay $100 million for breaching the Fisheries Act by illegally discharging harmful substances.

The New Cost of Environmental Non-Compliance in Québec: $300,000 per Day