Contraventions Act provisions come into force

Summary#

This Order fixes November 1, 2026 as the day certain parts of the Contraventions Act come into force. Practically, it removes a number of old, stand‑alone ticketing rules from other federal laws because those offences have been moved into the federal ticketing system.

What it does#

• Fixes November 1, 2026 as the date that section 85 of the Contraventions Act and sections 2.1, 2.2, 7, 7.1, 9 to 12, 14 and 16 of the Act’s Schedule come into force.
• Repeals the separate ticketing provisions that remain in these federal statutes:
  • Saguenay‑St. Lawrence Marine Park Act
  • Health of Animals Act
  • Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994
  • Non‑smokers’ Health Act
  • Plant Protection Act
  • Radiocommunication Act
  • Canada Wildlife Act
  • Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act
• Notes from the Order:
  • Ticketable offences from many of those laws have been moved into the Contraventions Regulations and are being handled under the central Contraventions ticketing system.
  • Offences under the Health of Animals Act and the Plant Protection Act are now being enforced by other tools in some cases, such as administrative monetary penalties.
• The Department of Justice Canada says these changes are technical and mainly remove obsolete provisions, so there was no broad public consultation. Federal departments responsible for the affected statutes were consulted and support the changes.

Who's affected#

• Federal departments and agencies that previously used their own ticketing rules.
• People and businesses regulated under the listed laws, for example:
  • users or operators in the Saguenay‑St. Lawrence Marine Park,
  • owners or transporters of animals and plants covered by the Health of Animals Act and the Plant Protection Act,
  • people involved with migratory birds, wildlife, radiocommunications, or tobacco‑control rules.
• For some regulated groups, enforcement will now come through the central ticketing system. For others (notably under the Health of Animals Act and Plant Protection Act), enforcement may be through different mechanisms like administrative monetary penalties.
• If it is unclear who will notice a change in practice, the Order itself describes the measures as mainly technical.

Why it matters#

• It cleans up the statute book by removing old, now‑redundant ticketing rules.
• For people and businesses, it can change who issues tickets and how they are processed — a shift from separate, law‑specific ticketing schemes to a single federal system (or, in some cases, to non‑ticket penalties).
• Because the changes are described as technical, this is mainly an administrative simplification rather than a new policy; still, it may affect how minor regulatory offences are handled in practice starting November 1, 2026.