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Explosives Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. E-17)

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Act current to 2021-02-15 and last amended on 2015-02-26. Previous Versions

Prohibited Activities

Marginal note:Manufacture, use, etc.

6 Except as authorized under this Act and subject to such exemptions as may be provided by regulation, no person shall

  • (a) make or manufacture any explosive, either wholly or in part, except in a licensed factory;

  • (b) sell any authorized explosive unless that person is the operator of a licensed factory or licensed magazine and is authorized to sell explosives;

  • (c) store any explosive in a magazine that is not a licensed magazine;

  • (d) have in his possession any explosive; or

  • (e) carry on, except in a licensed factory, any of the following processes, namely,

    • (i) dividing an explosive into its components, or otherwise breaking up or unmaking any explosive,

    • (ii) making fit for use any damaged explosive, or

    • (iii) remaking, altering or repairing any explosive.

  • R.S., 1985, c. E-17, s. 6
  • 2004, c. 15, s. 38(E)
Previous Version

Marginal note:Manufacture of unmarked plastic explosives

  • 6.1 (1) No person shall manufacture unmarked plastic explosives unless the explosives are

    • (a) manufactured in limited quantities solely for use in such of the following activities as are authorized, in writing, by the Chief Inspector of Explosives, namely,

      • (i) research, development or testing of new or modified explosives,

      • (ii) training in explosives detection, or in the development or testing of explosives detection equipment, or

      • (iii) forensic science activities; or

    • (b) destined to be incorporated as an integral part of a military device in Canada within three years after the coming into force of this section.

  • Marginal note:Transport and possession of unmarked plastic explosives

    (2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), no person shall transport or possess unmarked plastic explosives unless the explosives are

    • (a) transported or possessed in limited quantities solely for use as authorized in the manner referred to in paragraph (1)(a); or

    • (b) destined to be and are incorporated as an integral part of a military device in Canada within three years after the coming into force of this section.

  • Marginal note:Exception

    (3) Unmarked plastic explosives manufactured or imported into Canada before the day on which this section comes into force may, in accordance with the regulations, be transported or possessed by

    • (a) a person who performs military or police functions, during the period that begins on the coming into force of this section and ends fifteen years later; or

    • (b) any other person, during the period that begins on the coming into force of this section and ends three years later.

  • Marginal note:Importation or exportation of unmarked plastic explosives

    (4) No person shall import or export unmarked plastic explosives unless the explosives are incorporated as an integral part of a military device.

  • 1995, c. 35, s. 3

Marginal note:Illicit trafficking, etc.

6.2 No person shall knowingly

  • (a) engage in illicit trafficking; or

  • (b) acquire, possess, sell, offer for sale, transport or deliver any illicitly trafficked explosive.

  • 2004, c. 15, s. 39

Licences and Permits

Marginal note:Licences and permits

  • 7 (1) The Minister may issue

    • (a) licences for factories and magazines;

    • (b) permits for vehicles used for the transportation of explosives; and

    • (c) certificates for carrying out, on an occasional and temporary basis, activities relating to the manufacture, testing or storage of explosives or the use of fireworks or the training of persons in the use of fireworks.

  • Marginal note:Additional conditions

    (2) The Minister may make any licence, permit or certificate referred to in subsection (1) subject to any term or condition, in addition to those prescribed by the regulations, that the Minister considers necessary for the protection of any person or property, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, compliance with security or safety standards in respect of any factory or magazine or any class thereof that are supplementary to but not inconsistent with those provided for under paragraph 5(g.1).

  • R.S., 1985, c. E-17, s. 7
  • 1993, c. 32, s. 4

Marginal note:Inexplosive component parts

8 Notwithstanding anything in this Act, the Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister, accompanied by a certificate from the Chief Inspector of Explosives approving of the nature of the components and of the final explosive product, may allow the inexplosive component parts of an authorized explosive to be assembled and blended at or near the place of use.

  • R.S., c. E-15, s. 8

Marginal note:Permits

  • 9 (1) The Minister may issue permits for the importation or exportation, or the transportation in transit through Canada, of explosives.

  • Marginal note:No import, export or transport without permit

    (2) Except as provided by the regulations, no person shall, without a permit issued under this section, import or export, or transport in transit through Canada, any explosive.

  • Marginal note:Evidence of financial responsibility

    (3) The Minister may require any person who engages or proposes to engage in the importation or exportation, or the transportation in transit through Canada, of any explosive and who does not reside in Canada or have a chief place of business or head office in Canada to provide evidence of financial responsibility in the form of insurance, or in the form of an indemnity bond or a suretyship, satisfactory to the Minister, or in any other form satisfactory to the Minister.

  • R.S., 1985, c. E-17, s. 9
  • 1993, c. 32, s. 5
  • 2001, c. 4, s. 80(E)
  • 2004, c. 15, s. 40
Previous Version

Marginal note:Applications

10 An application for a licence, permit or certificate issued pursuant to section 7 or a permit issued pursuant to section 9 shall be made in such manner and be accompanied by such information and other material as are prescribed by the regulations.

  • R.S., 1985, c. E-17, s. 10
  • 1993, c. 32, s. 6

Marginal note:Form

10.1 Licences, permits and certificates issued pursuant to section 7 and permits issued pursuant to section 9 shall be in the form prescribed by the Minister.

  • 1993, c. 32, s. 6

Marginal note:No alterations without a permit

  • 11 (1) The operator of a factory, magazine or vehicle for which a licence or permit has been issued under section 7 shall not,

    • (a) in the case of a factory or magazine, relocate or make any alteration or addition to the factory or magazine or rebuild any part thereof, or

    • (b) in the case of a vehicle, make any alteration to the vehicle

    until the operator has obtained written authority therefor from the Minister.

  • Marginal note:Emergency situations

    (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), an operator referred to in that subsection may undertake any of the activities referred to therein with the approval of the Minister granted by any means where, in the opinion of the Minister, extraordinary circumstances exist for doing so or it is necessary to do so for the protection of any person or property.

  • R.S., 1985, c. E-17, s. 11
  • 1993, c. 32, s. 7

Marginal note:Cessation of use where a special danger

12 The Minister may require the operator of any factory or magazine or the operator of any vehicle in which an explosive is being conveyed to stop using, or to use only under and subject to conditions specified by the Minister, any building, structure or vehicle that, from its location or from the nature of the processes carried on therein, constitutes, in the opinion of the Minister, a special danger.

  • R.S., c. E-15, s. 12
  • 1974-75-76, c. 60, s. 6

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