On October 31, 2017, certain changes were made to the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act (CFPOA) – Canada’s international anti-bribery and corruption legislation – to make the payment of "facilitation payments" a criminal offence under Canadian law.
As we discussed in our April 24, 2015 Update, Canadian Foreign Anti-Bribery Law, the CFPOA prohibits payments being made (or offered) to foreign public officials for the purpose of obtaining a commercial advantage, but included an exception to allow "facilitation payments". Facilitation payments are payments to foreign public officials to secure or expedite the performance of any routine act that is part of the official’s duties or functions. Facilitation payments are not made to influence an official’s decision, but instead are made to speed up a process (e.g., the issuance of a permit or processing of official documents).
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