Act

Act respecting transparency measures in the mining, oil and gas industries

The Act respecting transparency measures in the mining, oil and gas industries  (CQLR, chapter M-11.5) was assented to on October 21, 2015. Its purpose is to discourage and detect corruption, and to foster the social acceptability of natural resource exploration and development projects.

The Act requires the companies subject to its provisions to declare the amounts they pay to various levels of government, including municipalities, government and municipal agencies and their mandataries, and foreign national, regional and local governments. The amounts paid to Aboriginal communities and bodies on or after June 1, 2017, must also be declared. Information obtained under the Act is public.

The obligation to declare these payments applies to entities that are listed on a stock exchange in Canada and have their head office in Québec as well as to large companies with an establishment in Québec.

The payments that must be declared are monetary payments or payments in kind of $100,000 or more in the same category, to the same payee. They include income tax, mining tax, royalties on surface mineral substances, fees paid for licences, rent paid to the State, fees payable pursuant to the Environment Quality Act (CQLR, chapter Q-2), municipal and school taxes, and contributions for infrastructure construction or improvement in host communities.

The Autorité des marchés financiers  is responsible for administering the Act and has specific powers for that purpose.

The Act is harmonized with the Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act  (S.C. 2004, c. 39, s. 376) and has the same aims as the European Union Directives (Directive 2013/34, chapter 10 and Directive 2013/50 s. 6 and 28.) on the same subject.

To lessen the administrative burden for businesses, the Québec Government recognizes the requirements of the European Union countries and countries that are members of the Agreement of the European Economic Area. Reports prepared under the Canadian Act or under the legislative or regulatory provisions of any of the above countries may be filed in Québec.