Quarantine Act (S.C. 2005, c. 20)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Quarantine Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

2 The following definitions apply in this Act.

communicable disease

communicable disease means a human disease that is caused by an infectious agent or a biological toxin and poses a risk of significant harm to public health, or a disease listed in the schedule, and includes an infectious agent that causes a communicable disease. (maladie transmissible)

conveyance

conveyance means a watercraft, aircraft, train, motor vehicle, trailer or other means of transportation, including a cargo container, that arrives in Canada or is in the process of departing from Canada. (véhicule)

departure point

departure point means any point designated by the Minister under section 10. (point de sortie)

entry point

entry point means a point designated by the Minister under section 9 or a point where a customs office, within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Customs Act, is located. (point d’entrée)

health assessment

health assessment means an evaluation of the relevant medical history and the travel history of a traveller and a physical examination, including an examination of the traveller’s head, neck and extremities and the measurement of vital signs such as the traveller’s temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate. (contrôle médical)

medical examination

medical examination includes ascertaining the relevant medical history and the travel history of the person being examined, the conduct of a physical examination and any laboratory tests or radiographic or diagnostic tests that are required to make a determination of whether the person might have a communicable disease. (examen médical)

medical practitioner

medical practitioner means a person who is entitled to practise medicine by the laws of a province. (médecin)

Minister

Minister means the Minister of Health. (ministre)

operator

operator means any person in charge of a conveyance, and includes the conveyance crew. (conducteur)

owner

owner, other than in section 43, includes a lessee. (propriétaire)

peace officer

peace officer means a person referred to in paragraphs (c) and (g) of the definition peace officer in section 2 of the Criminal Code. (agent de la paix)

prescribed

prescribed means prescribed by regulation. (Version anglaise seulement)

quarantine facility

quarantine facility means any place that is used for the detention of a traveller. (installation de quarantaine)

quarantine station

quarantine station means any place that is used for the administration and enforcement of this Act. (poste de quarantaine)

screening officer

screening officer means a person designated as a screening officer under subsection 5(1) or an officer within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Customs Act. (agent de contrôle)

traveller

traveller means a person, including the operator of a conveyance, who arrives in Canada or is in the process of departing from Canada. (voyageur)

vector

vector means an insect or animal capable of transmitting a communicable disease. (vecteur)

Binding on Her Majesty

Marginal note:Binding on Her Majesty

3 This Act is binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or of a province.

Purpose

Marginal note:Purpose

4 The purpose of this Act is to protect public health by taking comprehensive measures to prevent the introduction and spread of communicable diseases.

Powers of Minister

Marginal note:Designating analysts and certain officers

• 5 (1) The Minister may designate qualified persons, or classes of qualified persons, as analysts, screening officers or environmental health officers.

• Marginal note:Designating quarantine officers

  (2) The Minister may designate medical practitioners or other qualified health care practitioners, or classes of such persons, as quarantine officers.

• Marginal note:Designating review officers

  (3) The Minister may designate medical practitioners as review officers.

• Marginal note:Certificate to be produced

  (4) The Minister shall give a certificate of designation to every screening officer who is not also a customs officer, to every quarantine officer and to every environmental health officer. An officer to whom a certificate has been given shall produce it, on request, to the person in charge of a place or conveyance that the officer inspects and to any person that the officer questions.

Marginal note:Quarantine station

• 6 (1) The Minister may establish a quarantine station at any place in Canada.

• Marginal note:Provision and maintenance of area or facility

  (2) The operator of a facility in which a customs office, within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Customs Act, is located shall, when required in writing by the Minister, provide and maintain free of charge any area or facility, along with its fixtures, that the Minister considers necessary for establishing a quarantine station.

Marginal note:Quarantine facilities

7 The Minister may by order designate any place in Canada as a quarantine facility and amend, cancel or reinstate the designation.

Marginal note:Duty to provide

• 8 (1) Any person in charge of a place shall, at the request of the Minister, provide that place to the Minister if, in the opinion of the Minister, the temporary use of the place as a quarantine facility is necessary to protect public health.

• Marginal note:Deeming

  (2) The place is deemed to be designated as a quarantine facility.

• Marginal note:Compensation

  (3) The Minister may compensate any person for the Minister’s use of the place.

• Marginal note:Consultation

  (4) The Minister shall consult with the provincial public health authority of the province in which the place is situated before taking possession of it.

Marginal note:Designation of entry point

9 The Minister may by order designate any point in Canada as an entry point.

Marginal note:Designation of departure point

10 The Minister may by order designate any point in Canada as a departure point if, in the opinion of the Minister, the order is necessary to prevent the spread of a communicable disease.

Marginal note:Ministerial agreements

11 The Minister may enter into an agreement with a department or an agency of the Government of Canada or of a province, or with a public health authority, respecting the administration and enforcement of this Act or of an Act of a province.

Travellers

Marginal note:Obligation on arriving travellers

12 Every person who is subject to subsection 11(1) of the Customs Act and enters Canada shall, immediately after entering, present themselves to a screening officer at the nearest entry point.

Marginal note:Obligation on departing travellers

13 Every person who leaves Canada through a departure point shall, immediately before leaving, present themselves to a screening officer or quarantine officer at the departure point.

Marginal note:Screening technology

• 14 (1) Any qualified person authorized by the Minister may, to determine whether a traveller has a communicable disease or symptoms of one, use any screening technology authorized by the Minister that does not involve the entry into the traveller’s body of any instrument or other foreign body.

• Marginal note:Refusal to be screened

  (2) If a traveller refuses to be screened with the screening technology and the person using it is not a screening officer or quarantine officer, the person shall immediately inform a screening officer or quarantine officer of the refusal.

Marginal note:Duty to provide information

• 15 (1) Every traveller shall answer any relevant questions asked by a screening officer or quarantine officer and provide to the officer any information or record in their possession that the officer may reasonably require in the performance of a duty under this Act.

• Marginal note:Duty to disclose communicable disease

  (2) Any traveller who has reasonable grounds to suspect that they have or might have a communicable disease listed in the schedule or are infested with vectors, or that they have recently been in close proximity to a person who has, or is reasonably likely to have, a communicable disease listed in the schedule or is infested with vectors, shall disclose that fact to a screening officer or quarantine officer.

• Marginal note:Compliance with measures

  (3) Every traveller shall comply with any reasonable measure ordered by a screening officer or quarantine officer for the purpose of preventing the introduction and spread of a communicable disease.

Marginal note:Obligation to inform

• 16 (1) A screening officer shall immediately inform a quarantine officer, and follow any directive of that officer respecting the traveller, if

  • (a) the screening officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that a traveller has or might have a communicable disease or is infested with vectors, or has recently been in close proximity to a person who has or might have a communicable disease or is infested with vectors;

  • (b) a traveller has refused to be screened by the screening officer under subsection 14(1), or a person authorized to use the screening technology has informed the screening officer that a traveller has refused to be screened under that subsection;

  • (c) a traveller has contravened subsection 15(1) by refusing to answer a question asked by the screening officer or by refusing to provide information or a record that the screening officer required; or

  • (d) a traveller has contravened subsection 15(3) by refusing to comply with a measure ordered by the screening officer.

• Marginal note:Isolation

  (2) The screening officer may, without directives from a quarantine officer, isolate the traveller, individually or within a group, until the traveller is assessed by a quarantine officer.

Marginal note:Traveller to be informed

17 A screening officer or quarantine officer who takes any action in respect of a traveller under this Act shall, if reasonably possible, inform the traveller of the measure before it is taken.

Marginal note:Arrest without warrant

18 A peace officer may, at the request of a screening officer or quarantine officer, arrest without a warrant and bring to a quarantine officer any traveller who the peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe has refused to be isolated or refuses to comply with a measure under subsection 15(3).

Marginal note:Health assessment requirement

• 19 (1) A quarantine officer may require a traveller to undergo a health assessment if

  • (a) the officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that the traveller has or might have a communicable disease or is infested with vectors, or has recently been in close proximity to a person who has or might have a communicable disease or is infested with vectors;

  • (b) the traveller has refused to be screened under subsection 14(1); or

  • (c) the traveller has contravened subsection 15(1) or (3).

• Marginal note:Timing of assessment

  (2) The health assessment shall be undertaken as soon as reasonably practicable but in any case within 48 hours after the quarantine officer requires the traveller to undergo it.