← Back to bills

Sergei Magnitsky International Anti-Corruption and Human Rights Act

An Act to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act, the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law), the Special Economic Measures Act and the Broadcasting Act

Summary

  • Strengthens and rebrands Canada’s sanctions laws (Magnitsky Law and Special Economic Measures Act) by adding “transnational repression” as a sanctionable offence, denying visas to immediate family of sanctioned individuals unless they received no benefit, increasing penalties, speeding up asset forfeiture and disposal, mandating RCMP/FINTRAC information sharing, setting 30‑day ministerial decision timelines, and requiring tabling of sanction orders with supporting rationale in Parliament.
  • Requires the Minister of Foreign Affairs to publish an annual human-rights report, including a list of prisoners of conscience, with consultation and safety provisions.
  • Renames the Special Economic Measures Act to the “Sergei Magnitsky Global Sanctions Act,” aligning scope with grave breaches of peace, gross human rights violations, and significant corruption, and harmonizing with allies.
  • Amends the Broadcasting Act to deny, refuse renewal, or revoke licences of broadcasting undertakings vulnerable to significant influence by sanctioned or genocidal foreign actors, limiting malign foreign influence.

Builder Assessment

Vote Yes

Overall, this bill modestly aligns with Build Canada’s tenets by enhancing rule‑of‑law, investor confidence, and coordination with allies while limiting economic downsides to targeted areas. Its benefits for prosperity are indirect but positive; the primary trade‑offs are narrower export markets to sanctioned actors and added compliance.

  • Strengthens Canada’s brand as a clean, rules‑based economy (supports investment and confidence).
  • Improves sanctions execution via deadlines, inter‑agency data flows, and Parliamentary transparency.
  • Deters malign foreign influence in media and transnational repression, supporting a stable business environment.
  • Trade‑offs: narrower export channels to sanctioned jurisdictions; added compliance and enforcement costs; potential overreach risk in broadcasting and family visa bans.
  • Suggested improvements: add clear due‑process standards and economic‑impact assessments for broadcasting licence actions; tighten and define the “vulnerable to significant influence” test; provide humanitarian/SME safe harbours and clear guidance for exporters; incorporate periodic sunset/review; ensure family visa bans apply only with demonstrable benefit or complicity; earmark forfeited assets transparently for victim compensation and allied reconstruction.

Principles Analysis

—

Canada should aim to be the world's most prosperous country.

Indirect effects: strengthens Canada’s rule‑of‑law reputation and security, but may modestly reduce trade with sanctioned actors; net impact on national wealth is unclear.

—

Promote economic freedom, ambition, and breaking from bureaucratic inertia (reduce red tape).

Introduces targeted restrictions (e.g., on certain broadcasters and visas) yet also imposes clear timelines, transparency, and inter‑agency coordination that reduce policy inertia in sanctions enforcement.

—

Drive national productivity and global competitiveness, including removing interprovincial trade barriers and improving labour mobility (one country, one market).

Could enhance competitiveness by deterring corrupt capital and foreign interference, but adds compliance burdens without directly addressing productivity drivers.

✗

Grow exports of Canadian products and resources, and move up the value chain by processing resources domestically rather than exporting them raw.

Expanded and expedited sanctions can restrict exports and services to targeted jurisdictions, trimming some market access even if narrowly focused and allied‑aligned.

✓

Encourage investment, innovation, and resource development.

Stronger anti‑corruption and anti‑repression measures improve investor confidence and Canada’s reputation as a clean, rules‑based market, supporting long‑term investment.

—

Deliver better public services at lower cost (government efficiency).

Deadlines, information‑sharing, and mandated reporting improve process clarity, but added oversight and enforcement likely increase administrative workload and costs.

—

Reform taxes to incentivize work, risk-taking, and innovation.

No tax measures are included.

—

Focus on large-scale prosperity, not incrementalism.

Significant for foreign policy and integrity, but it does not directly deliver large-scale growth or productivity reforms.

Did we get the builder vote wrong?

Email [email protected]

C-219

PartyConservative
StatusOutside the Order of Precedence
Last updatedSep 16, 2025
TopicsForeign Affairs, Social Issues
Parliament45