Deferred prosecution agreement (Canada)

Criminal Code, Part XXII.1
Parliament of Canada
Citation	Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c. C-46, Part XXII.1, "Remediation Agreements"
Enacted by	Parliament of Canada
Royal assent	June 21, 2018
Commenced	September 19, 2018
Legislative history
Bill citation	C-74
Introduced by	Hon. Bardish Chagger, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
First reading	March 27, 2018
Second reading	April 23, 2018
Third reading	June 6, 2018
Member(s) in charge	The Hon. the Speaker of the Senate pro tempore
First reading	June 7, 2018
Second reading	June 11, 2018
Third reading	June 14, 2018
Status: In force

In Canada, a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) or remediation agreement refers to an agreement under Part XXII.1 of the Criminal Code. The agreement is made between the Crown prosecutor and an organization alleged to have committed certain types of criminal offences, usually in the context of fraud or corruption, with the consent of the relevant Attorney General and under the supervision of a judge. Under a deferred prosecution agreement, the Crown prosecutor can agree to defer bringing a prosecution for the alleged offences if the organization takes steps to improve its conduct, makes restitution, and implements internal controls to avoid a repetition of the conduct.

In 2018, the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced legislation to provide for deferred prosecution agreements in Canada, as part of the omnibus Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1.^[1] The new provisions would be added to the Criminal Code as Part XXII.1. The government explained that the provisions would be an enhancement of the existing federal Integrity Regime. The goal of the legislation would be to give prosecutors additional tools to deal with allegations of commercial crimes. The Parliament of Canada enacted Part XXII.1 in June 2018.

The provisions have subsequently generated some political controversy. SNC-Lavalin, a major Canadian engineering firm, is facing criminal charges under the Criminal Code and the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act in relation to its business dealings in Libya and was one of the first corporations to seek a deferred prosecution agreement. The federal Public Prosecution Service of Canada refused that request, on the basis that SNC-Lavalin did not meet the conditions under Part XXII.1. Allegations were made that members of the Trudeau government had put inappropriate pressure on then-Minister of Justice, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to authorize a deferred prosecution agreement for SNC-Lavalin. Following an investigation by the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner (CIEC), the Commissioner released his report on and August 14, 2019 said that Prime Minister Trudeau had contravened the Conflict of Interest Act by seeking to directly and indirectly influence Wilson‑Raybould.^[2]