SNC-Lavalin reaches agreement with Commissioner of Canada Elections

SNC-Lavalin has announced that it has reached a compliance agreement with the Commissioner of Canada Elections (the “Commissioner”) in relation with an investigation by the Commissioner regarding the reimbursement, to people associated with the company, of contributions made to federal political entities between 2004 and 2011.

To conclude this agreement, the Commissioner took into consideration the following factors, among others:

• SNC-Lavalin’s adoption and implementation of ethical and compliance measures and structures whose purpose includes preventing such activities from reoccurring and;
• the level of cooperation offered by the company, including its voluntarily providing the Commissioner with all of the relevant information for its investigation.

“I am pleased that this agreement was reached. It once again shows our desire and commitment to resolve past issues,” said Neil Bruce, president and CEO. “Our cooperation with the Commissioner reflects the efforts and progress we have made in terms of ethics and compliance since 2012, which our clients and partners now recognize.”

The company’s Political Contributions Policy notably states that:

• Employees are prohibited from making political contributions on behalf of SNC-Lavalin or in its name, or to use their position within the company to solicit them for the benefit of any political party or candidate.
• Employees may engage in political activities, or make political contributions, in their own individual capacities, on their own time and at their own expense. However, they may not use any SNC-Lavalin resources, funds or other property to do so. SNC-Lavalin will not reimburse or otherwise compensate an employee, directly or indirectly, in any form, for political contributions they make.

In February 2014, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) granted SNC-Lavalin the authorization to contract with Quebec organizations.

In December 2015, SNC-Lavalin signed an administrative agreement with Public Services and Procurement Canada under the federal government’s new Integrity Regime. The administrative agreement allows companies charged under federal laws to continue to contract with or supply the Government of Canada.

Furthermore, in May 2016, the company announced its participation in the Government of Quebec’s Voluntary Reimbursement Program as well as the settlement of the investigation from the Office of the Syndic of the Order of Engineers of Quebec (OIQ) in connection with political contributions made between 1998 and 2010.