Oceans Act

Marginal note:Inspections

• 39.1 (1) For a purpose related to verifying compliance or preventing non-compliance with this Act and the regulations, an enforcement officer may enter and inspect any place, including any conveyance, in which the enforcement officer has reasonable grounds to believe, that there is any thing to which this Act or the regulations apply or any book, record, electronic data or other document relating to the application of this Act or the regulations, and the enforcement officer may, for that purpose,

  • (a) open or cause to be opened any container that the enforcement officer has reasonable grounds to believe contains that thing, book, record, electronic data or other document;

  • (b) examine the thing and take samples free of charge;

  • (c) require any person to produce the book, record, electronic data or other document for examination or copying, in whole or in part;

  • (d) use or cause to be used any computer system or data processing system at the place being inspected to examine any data contained in, or available to, the system;

  • (e) reproduce any record or cause it to be reproduced from the data in the form of a printout or other intelligible output and remove the printout or other output for examination or copying; and

  • (f) use or cause to be used any copying equipment at the place being inspected to make copies of any book, record, electronic data or other document.

• Marginal note:Disposition of samples

  (1.1) An enforcement officer may dispose of a sample taken under paragraph (1)(b) in any manner that the officer considers appropriate.

• Marginal note:Seizure

  (1.2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the enforcement officer may seize any thing that the enforcement officer has reasonable grounds to believe

  • (a) was used in the contravention of this Act or the regulations;

  • (b) is something in relation to which this Act or the regulations have been contravened; or

  • (c) was obtained by the contravention of this Act or the regulations.

• Marginal note:Assistance

  (1.3) The owner or the person in charge of the place, and every person found in the place, shall

  • (a) give the enforcement officer all assistance that is reasonably required to enable the officer to exercise their powers or to perform their duties or functions under this section; and

  • (b) provide the enforcement officer with any information or any book, record, electronic data or other document, and access to any data, that are reasonably required for that purpose.

• Marginal note:Conveyance

  (2) For the purposes of carrying out the inspection, the enforcement officer may stop a conveyance or direct that it be moved to any place, including in Canadian waters or the exclusive economic zone of Canada, where the inspection can be carried out.

• Marginal note:Passage through private property

  (2.1) An enforcement officer and any person accompanying them may enter and pass through private property, other than a dwelling-place, in order to gain entry to a place referred to in subsection (1). For greater certainty, neither person is liable for doing so.

• Marginal note:Passage through private property by authorized person

  (2.2) A person acting under the direction and control of an enforcement officer may, for the purposes of exercising the officer’s powers or performing the officer’s duties and functions under this section, enter and pass through private property, other than a dwelling-place, in order to gain entry to a marine protected area. For greater certainty, the person is not liable for doing so.

• Marginal note:Dwelling-place

  (3) The enforcement officer may not enter a dwelling-place except with the consent of the occupant or person in charge of the dwelling-place or under the authority of a warrant.

• Marginal note:Warrant

  (4) Where on ex parte application a justice, as defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code, is satisfied by information on oath that

  • (a) the conditions for entry described in subsection (1) exist in relation to a dwelling-place,

  • (b) entry to the dwelling-place is necessary in relation to the administration of this Act or the regulations, and

  • (c) entry to the dwelling-place has been refused or there are reasonable grounds for believing that entry will be refused,

  the justice may issue a warrant authorizing the enforcement officer to enter the dwelling-place subject to any conditions that may be specified in the warrant.