Two Quebec-based companies and two individuals fined a total of $35,000 for violating the Species at Risk Act

April 30, 2025 – Longueuil, Quebec – Environment and Climate Change Canada

On April 3, 2025, at the Longueuil Courthouse, the companies Habitations Pilon Inc. and Les excavations Jacques Germain & fils Inc. pleaded guilty to one count each of violating prohibitions set out in the Emergency Order for the Protection of the Western Chorus Frog Great Lakes / St. Lawrence — Canadian Shield Population (the Emergency Order), in contravention of the Species at Risk Act (the Act). Marc-André Tarte, a Chambly resident and the construction manager for the company Habitations Pilon Inc., and Maxime Germain, an excavator operator for Les excavations Jacques Germain & fils Inc. and a Chambly resident, also pleaded guilty to one count each in connection with the same offences. They were sentenced to pay fines totalling $35,000. An amount of $30,000 will be directed to the Government of Canada’s Environmental Damages Fund and $5,000 will be paid to the Receiver General for Canada.

On November 16, 2023, during a routine patrol, Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers observed evidence of heavy machinery traffic in the area protected by the Emergency Order. Officers also observed crushed vegetation. The visible damage covered an area of approximately 612 m². After investigating, they were able to determine that the companies Habitations Pilon Inc. and Les excavations Jacques Germain & fils Inc. were responsible for the damage caused by heavy machinery traffic in the protected area. The companies and their employees had driven through the area where the Emergency Order applies to make changes to a billboard. In so doing, the companies and the individuals violated subsection 2(1) of the Emergency Order.

A violation of the provisions of an emergency order constitutes an offence under the Species at Risk Act. The Emergency Order prohibits using vehicles anywhere other than on roads or paved paths. It also prohibits removing, pruning, mowing, damaging, destroying, or introducing any vegetation. In addition, the Emergency Order prohibits installing or constructing any infrastructure or performing maintenance on any infrastructure within the enforcement area. The Act prohibits killing or harming an individual of a wildlife species listed as threatened, as well as damaging or destroying the habitat of one or more species.

Quick facts

• Habitations Pilon Inc. was fined $15,000 and Les excavations Jacques Germain & fils Inc. was fined $15,000. Marc-André Tarte was fined $4,000, and Maxime Germain was fined $1,000.
• The Great Lakes / St. Lawrence — Canadian Shield population of the Western Chorus Frog has been listed as threatened in Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act since 2010.
• On June 22, 2016, the Government of Canada announced an emergency order to protect the Western Chorus Frog in the municipalities of La Prairie, Candiac, and Saint-Philippe, near Montréal, Quebec. The Order's geographic area is approximately 2 km² of partially developed land, a portion of which includes land that is part of Smitter's Marsh Conservation Park.
• The prohibitions set out in the Emergency Order aim to prevent the degradation or loss of habitat that the Western Chorus Frog needs for its recovery and to prevent activities that could harm the species.
• Created in 1995, the Environmental Damages Fund is a Government of Canada program administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada. The Fund directs monies received from fines, penalties, court orders, and voluntary payments to projects that will repair environmental damage or protect the environment. The Fund aims to invest in areas where the environmental damage occurred.

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