C-29514470-71Elizabeth II – 1-2 Charles III2021-2022-2023An Act to amend the Criminal Code (neglect of vulnerable adults)An Act to amend the Criminal Code (neglect of vulnerable adults)202312

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SUMMARYThis enactment amends the Criminal Code to create an offence for long-term care facilities, their owners and their officers to fail to ensure necessaries of life are provided to residents of the facilities.The enactment also allows the court to make an order prohibiting the owners and the officers of such facilities from being, through employment or volunteering, in charge of or in a position of trust or authority towards vulnerable adults and to consider as an aggravating factor for the purpose of sentencing the fact that an organization failed to perform the legal duty that it owed to a vulnerable adult.

His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:R.S., c. C-46Criminal Code

1Section 214 of the Criminal Code is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:long-term care facility means a residential facility, or part of a residential facility, the primary purpose of which is to provide long-term accommodation, meals, assistance and care to three or more adults who reside in the facility and who(a)are unrelated to the owners and officers of the facility by blood or marriage, and(b)are unable to provide themselves with the necessaries of life by reason of age, illness, mental disorder, disability or frailty; (établissement de soins de longue durée)officer means the chairperson of the board of directors, the president, a vice-president, the secretary, the treasurer, the comptroller, the general counsel, the general manager or a managing director of a long-term care facility, any other person who performs functions for a long-term care facility similar to those normally performed by a person occupying any of those offices, or any other person designated as an officer of a long-term care facility. (dirigeant)

2(1)Subsection 215(1) of the Act is amended by striking out “and” at the end of paragraph (b) and by adding the following after that paragraph:(b.1)as an owner or officer of a long-term care facility, to ensure necessaries of life are provided to residents of the facility; and(2)Paragraph 215(2)(b) of the Act is replaced by the following:(b)with respect to a duty imposed by paragraph (1)(b.1) or (c), the failure to perform the duty endangers the life of the person to whom the duty is owed or causes or is likely to cause the health of that person to be injured permanently.

3The Act is amended by adding the following after section 215:

Prohibition order215.1(1)When an owner or officer of a long-term care facility is convicted, or is discharged on the conditions prescribed in a probation order under section 730, of an offence referred to in paragraph 215(2)(b), the court that sentences the offender or directs that the accused be discharged, as the case may be, in addition to any other punishment that may be imposed for that offence or any other condition prescribed in the order of discharge, shall consider making and may make, subject to the conditions or exemptions that the court directs, an order prohibiting the offender from seeking, obtaining or continuing any employment, or becoming or being a volunteer in any capacity, that involves being in charge of or in a position of trust or authority towards an adult who is vulnerable by reason of age, illness, mental disorder, disability or frailty.Considerations(1.1)For the purpose of subsection (1), the court shall take into account any penalty or measure imposed under a provincial law or policy intended to protect vulnerable adults.Duration(2)The prohibition may be for any period that the court considers appropriate, including any period to which the offender is sentenced to imprisonment.Court may vary order(3)A court that makes an order of prohibition or, if the court is for any reason unable to act, another court of equivalent jurisdiction in the same province, may, on application of the offender or the prosecutor, require the offender to appear before it at any time and, after hearing the parties, that court may vary the conditions prescribed in the order if, in the opinion of the court, the variation is desirable because of changed circumstances.Offence(4)Every person who is bound by an order of prohibition and who does not comply with the order is guilty of(a)an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding four years; or(b)an offence punishable on summary conviction.

4The Act is amended by adding the following after paragraph 718.21(a):(a.1)whether the organization was under a legal duty that was owed to vulnerable adults and failed to perform that duty;

Coming into Force

Thirtieth day after royal assent5This Act comes into force on the 30th day after the day on which it receives royal assent.