Telecommunications Act

Marginal note:Regulations

• 22 (1) The Governor in Council may, in relation to Canadian carriers’ eligibility under section 16 to operate as telecommunications common carriers, make regulations

  • (a) respecting information that is to be provided, the persons by whom and to whom it is to be provided, the manner in which and the time within which it is to be provided and the consequences of failing to provide it;

  • (b) respecting the circumstances and the manner in which a Canadian carrier, in order to maintain its eligibility, may control the acquisition and ownership of its voting shares, restrict, suspend or refuse to recognize ownership rights in respect of those shares and require holders of those shares to dispose of them;

  • (c) authorizing the board of directors of a Canadian carrier to pay a dividend or to make any other distribution with respect to voting shares that would otherwise be prohibited because the shares were held in contravention of section 16 or any regulations made under this subsection where, in the board’s opinion, the contravention was inadvertent or of a technical nature or it would be otherwise inequitable not to pay the dividend or make the distribution;

  • (d) respecting the circumstances and the manner in which a Canadian carrier may restrict voting rights attached to shares, or suspend or void the exercise of those rights, in order to maintain its eligibility;

  • (e) respecting the circumstances and the manner in which a Canadian carrier may

    • (i) sell, redeem or purchase shares held contrary to section 16 or any regulations made under this subsection, and

    • (ii) deal with the proceeds of sale and reimburse any purchasers of the shares in good faith;

  • (f) respecting the powers of a Canadian carrier to require disclosure of the beneficial ownership of its shares, the right of the carrier and its directors, officers, employees and agents to rely on any required disclosure and the effects of their reliance;

  • (g) respecting the verification by the Commission of a Canadian carrier’s eligibility, the measures the Commission may take to maintain the carrier’s eligibility, including exercising the powers of the carrier’s board of directors and countermanding its decisions, and the circumstances and manner in which the Commission may take those measures;

  • (h) respecting the circumstances and manner in which the Commission and its members, officers, employees or agents or a Canadian carrier and its directors, officers, employees and agents may be protected from liability for actions taken by them in order to maintain the carrier’s eligibility;

  • (i) defining the words successor and Canadian for the purposes of section 16; and

  • (j) prescribing anything that is to be prescribed and generally for carrying out the purposes and provisions of section 16 and this subsection.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) The Governor in Council may, in relation to international submarine cable licences, make regulations

  • (a) prescribing the procedure governing applications for licences, including the form of applications, the information to accompany them and the manner of filing, processing and disposing of them;

  • (b) respecting the form of licences and the information they must include and requiring licensees to publish or otherwise make them available for public inspection;

  • (c) prescribing classes of international submarine cable licences and determining the persons eligible to hold licences of any particular class;

  • (d) prescribing fees, or the manner of calculating fees, in respect of licences and prescribing the manner in which the fees are to be paid; and

  • (e) generally for carrying out the purposes and provisions of sections 17 to 20.

• Marginal note:Liability for fees

  (3) Fees required to be paid under this Part constitute a debt due to Her Majesty in right of Canada and may be recovered in a court of competent jurisdiction.

• Marginal note:Publication of proposed regulations

  (4) Any regulations proposed to be made under this section shall be published in the Canada Gazette at least sixty days before their proposed effective date, and a reasonable opportunity shall be given to interested persons to make representations to the Minister with respect to the proposed regulations.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (5) Proposed regulations that are modified after publication need not be published again under subsection (4).