Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Venezuela) Regulations: SOR/2025-1

Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 159, Number 3

Registration
SOR/2025-1 January 9, 2025

SPECIAL ECONOMIC MEASURES ACT

P.C. 2025-1 January 9, 2025

Whereas the Governor in Council is of the opinion that gross and systematic human rights violations have been committed in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela;

Therefore, Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Venezuela) Regulations under paragraph 4(1)(a)footnote a and subsections 4(1.1)footnote b, (2)footnote c and (3) of the Special Economic Measures Act footnote d.

Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Venezuela) Regulations

Amendment

1 The schedule to the Special Economic Measures (Venezuela) Regulations footnote 1 is amended by adding the following in numerical order:

Application Before Publication

2 For the purpose of paragraph 11(2)(a) of the Statutory Instruments Act, these Regulations apply according to their terms before they are published in the Canada Gazette.

Coming into Force

3 These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issues

In Venezuela, human rights violations, including politically motivated persecution, arbitrary detentions, torture and ill-treatment, and killings, are not isolated or random, but part of a continuing and coordinated plan to silence, discourage and quash opposition to the Government of de facto President Nicolás Maduro. Since the contested proclamation of Maduro as the winner of the July 28, 2024, presidential election, the Maduro regime has further entrenched its power and launched an unprecedented wave of repression to contain and dissuade protests against the electoral fraud. Venezuelan citizens are increasingly unable to exercise their rights, and the humanitarian crisis continues to deteriorate.

Background

Gross and systematic human rights violations are not an isolated or recent problem in Venezuela. The repressive conduct of the Venezuelan state apparatus, in particular by the two intelligence agencies — the Directorate General of Military Counter-Intelligence and the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service — as well as the specific roles of senior government officials for human rights violations and crimes, have been well documented by international human rights organizations. These actions include preventing access to legal services; targeted political repression; illegal detention followed by torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; sexual and gender-based violence; and forced disappearances. Specifically, the third report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) on Venezuela, released in 2022, concluded that de facto President Maduro, supported by other high-level officials, made concerted efforts to remain in power by resorting to means that include the commission of crimes and human rights violations against opponents of the Government and persons perceived as such.

Following the July 28, 2024, presidential election, the Venezuelan government launched a new wave of repression, which reached an unprecedented magnitude. The FFM documented in their 2024 report (HRC/57/57 [PDF] (PDF)) that, once election results had been announced, proclaiming Maduro as the winner despite all the evidence contradicting that result, the repression to silence members of the political opposition was extended and took on a massive and indiscriminate character. It targeted all those who expressed their rejection or demanded transparency of the election results announced by the authorities, as well as those who actively protested or were suspected of having done so.

Violent repression by security forces and armed civilian groups aligned with the de facto government, known as colectivos, occurred during the post-electoral protests against the proclamation of Maduro as the winner. The repression resulted in at least 28 deaths and hundreds of persons, including children and persons with disabilities, were injured and arbitrarily detained for expressing their opinions considered contrary to the de facto Government of Venezuela. The repression of the protests was instigated by the highest civilian and military officers of the Government, including de facto President Maduro.

Various international organizations and prominent figures have spoken out and expressed their concerns about the violence and repression in Venezuela, or condemned them, including the United Nations Secretary-General, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations FFM on Venezuela, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which labelled the Venezuelan state response to the demonstration as practices of “state terrorism.”

Canada’s response

Since 2017, Canada has implemented a series of sanctions against Venezuela in response to the erosion of democratic institutions due to the Maduro regime. Canada first imposed sanctions on September 22, 2017, when Canada designated 40 individuals linked to the Government, aiming to hold accountable those responsible for undermining democracy and stability in the country. These measures were enacted under the Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA) and included asset freezes and prohibitions on dealings with the listed individuals.

Most recently, on December 13, 2024, the scope of the Special Economic Measures (Venezuela) Regulations (the Regulations) was expanded to allow Canada to impose sanctions in response to the current and continuously deteriorating situation in Venezuela. These sanctions now include activities that contribute directly or indirectly to the grave breach of international peace and security, gross and systematic human rights violations, or significant corruption. At the same time, Canada announced the imposition of sanctions on 5 individuals who have engaged in activities that directly or indirectly undermine democracy in Venezuela in response to the baseless results of the July 28, 2024, presidential election. To date, Canada has imposed targeted sanctions on 117 individuals under the Regulations.

Canada has also remained active in the Venezuelan crisis, including through co-sponsoring resolutions and making interventions at the Organization of American States, the United Nations General Assembly, the United Nations Human Rights Council and other international forums, calling on Venezuelan authorities to respect human rights, democracy and the will of the people.

Objective

Description

The Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Venezuela) Regulations (the amendments) add 14 individuals to the Schedule of listed persons under the Regulations. These individuals are current or former senior officials of the Government of Venezuela, including officials from the Directorate General of Military Counter-Intelligence and the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service, who have engaged in activities that directly or indirectly contributed to or supported human rights violations in Venezuela.

Any person in Canada or Canadian outside Canada is thereby prohibited from dealing in the property of, entering into transactions with, providing services to, transferring property to, or otherwise making goods available to listed persons (individuals and entities). These measures will also render listed individuals inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). Under the Regulations, listed persons may apply to the Minister of Foreign Affairs to have their name removed from the Schedule of designated persons. The Minister must determine whether there are reasonable grounds to make a recommendation to the Governor in Council for removal.

Regulatory development

Consultation

Global Affairs Canada regularly engages with relevant stakeholders in Venezuela, including civil society organizations and other like-minded governments, regarding Canada’s response to the situation in Venezuela, including the implementation of sanctions.

With respect to the amendments, public consultation would not have been appropriate given that publicizing the names of the persons targeted by sanctions would have likely resulted in asset flight prior to the coming into force of the amendments.

Modern treaty obligations and Indigenous engagement and consultation

An initial assessment of the geographical scope of the amendments was conducted and did not identify any modern treaty obligations, as the regime does not take effect in a modern treaty area.

Instrument choice

Regulations are the sole method to enact sanctions in Canada. No other instrument could be considered.

Regulatory analysis

Benefits and costs

The amendments enhance Canada’s capacity for deterring actors from engaging in human rights violations, and/or acts that undermine the peace, security or stability of Venezuela or the integrity of its democratic institutions, and/or significant acts of corruption committed by the de facto authorities of Venezuela. The amendments align with Canada’s existing foreign policy strategies and actions aimed at putting pressure on Venezuela to respect the will of the people, as expressed in the July 28, 2024, presidential election, and to ensure respect for human rights in Venezuela.

The incremental cost to the Government of Canada to administer and enforce these additional prohibitions is minimal. The amendments target specific individuals and, therefore, have less impact on Canadian businesses than traditional broad-based economic sanctions and have limited impact on the citizens of the country of the listed individuals. Based on an initial assessment of available open-source information, it is believed that the newly listed individuals have limited linkages with Canada and, therefore, do not have business dealings that are significant to the Canadian economy. Thus, it is anticipated that there will be no significant impacts on Canadians and Canadian businesses as a result of these amendments.

Canadian banks and financial institutions are required to comply with the sanctions. They will do so by adding the new prohibitions to their existing monitoring systems, which may result in a very minor compliance cost.

Small business lens

With respect to the persons being listed under the Regulations, an analysis under the small business lens concluded that the amendments could impact Canadian small businesses. The Regulations prohibit Canadian businesses from dealing with, providing services to, or otherwise making goods available to listed persons, but do not create any direct administrative obligations related to them. While Canadian businesses may seek permits under the Regulations, they are granted on an exceptional basis only. Global Affairs Canada does not anticipate any applications resulting from listing these persons. Thus, there would be no incremental administrative burden arising from this requirement. Canadian small businesses are also subject to the duty to disclose under the Regulations, which would represent a direct compliance requirement. However, as the newly listed persons have limited known linkages with Canada, Global Affairs Canada does not anticipate any disclosures resulting from the amendments.

One-for-one rule

The one-for-one rule does not apply, as there is no incremental change in administrative burden on businesses. The permitting process for businesses meets the definition of “administrative burden” in the Red Tape Reduction Act; however, while permits may be granted under the Regulations on an exceptional basis, given that the listed individuals have limited business ties to the Canadian economy, Global Affairs Canada does not anticipate any permit applications with respect to the Regulations.

Regulatory cooperation and alignment

While the Regulations are not related to a work plan or commitment under a formal regulatory cooperation forum, they align with actions taken by like-minded partners. Sanctions are most effective when they are applied in a coordinated manner. Several like-minded countries are imposing sanctions in response to the corrupt actions and human rights violations in Venezuela. On September 12, 2024, the United States (U.S.) issued a round of sanctions on 16 members of the de facto Venezuelan government involved in acts obstructing a competitive and inclusive presidential election process in Venezuela and violations of human rights. On November 27, 2024, they imposed another round of sanctions on 21 members of the de facto Venezuelan government on the same basis. On January 10, 2025, the U.S., European Union, United Kingdom and Canada imposed sanctions on Venezuelan officials to continue to put pressure on the Maduro regime.

Effects on the environment

The amendments are unlikely to result in important environmental effects. In accordance with the Cabinet Directive on Strategic Environmental and Economic Assessment (SEEA Directive), a preliminary scan concluded that a strategic environmental and economic assessment is not required.

Gender-based analysis plus (GBA+)

The subject of economic sanctions has previously been assessed for effects on gender and diversity. Although intended to facilitate a change in behaviour through economic pressure on individuals and entities in foreign states, sanctions under the SEMA can nevertheless have an unintended indirect impact on certain vulnerable groups and individuals. Rather than affecting Venezuelans as a whole, these targeted sanctions will directly impact the listed individuals only. Therefore, these sanctions are unlikely to have a significant negative indirect impact on vulnerable groups, as compared to traditional broad-based economic sanctions directed toward a state, and limit the collateral effects to those dependent on those targeted individuals.

Implementation, compliance and enforcement, and service standards

The amendments come into force on the day they are registered.

Consequential to being listed in the Regulations and pursuant to the application of paragraph 35.1(b) of the IRPA, the listed individuals would be inadmissible to Canada.

The names of the listed individuals will be available online for financial institutions to review and will be added to the Consolidated Canadian Autonomous Sanctions List. This will help to facilitate compliance with the Regulations.

The Trade Commissioner Service at Global Affairs Canada continues to assist clients in understanding Canadian sanctions regulations and, notably, the impact of the regulations on any activities in which Canadians may be engaged, abroad and in Canada. Global Affairs Canada is also increasing outreach efforts across Canada — including engaging with businesses, universities and provincial and territorial governments — to enhance national awareness of and compliance with Canadian sanctions.

Under the SEMA, both Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canada Border Services Agency officers have the power to enforce sanctions violations through their authorities, as defined under the Customs Act, the Excise Act or the Excise Act, 2001, and sections 487 to 490, 491.1 and 491.2 of the Criminal Code.

In accordance with section 8 of the SEMA, every person who knowingly contravenes or fails to comply with the Regulations is liable, upon summary conviction, to a fine of not more than $25,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than one year, or to both; or, upon conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years.

Contact

Global Affairs Canada
Sanctions Bureau
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G2
Telephone (toll-free): 1‑833‑352‑0769
Telephone (local): 343‑203‑3975
Fax: 613‑995‑9085
Email: sanctions@international.gc.ca