Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2667 actions· ✨ 89 recent

Canada made SOR/2025-228, Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations, registered 2025-11-06 and announced by Minister Anand on 2025-11-12. The regulations add 13 individuals to Part 1 of Schedule 1, 11 entities to Part 2 of Schedule 1, and 100 vessels (by IMO number) to Schedule 1.1, freezing their Canadian assets and prohibiting dealings. Targets include Russian LNG-trading entities, drone-programme developers, cyber-infrastructure suppliers for hybrid operations against Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan-based financial enablers (including Capital Bank of Central Asia and the A7 payments platform) used to evade earlier Russia sanctions. The 100-vessel designation targets Russia's "shadow fleet" used to move crude oil, LNG and arms while evading the G7 price cap and flag-state controls.

Canada made SOR/2025-142, Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations, registered 2025-06-13. The regulations add 34 Russian entities to Part 2 of Schedule 1 alongside Keremet Bank Open Joint-Stock Company (Kyrgyzstan), three UAE-based entities, one Singapore-based entity, and two energy-commodity trading companies (Switzerland, Azerbaijan) — all designated as sanctions-evasion intermediaries for Russian trade. The amendments also add 201 vessels (by IMO number) to Schedule 1.1 as part of Russia's "shadow fleet," triggering a dealings ban, asset freeze, and a new prohibition on providing financial or other services to non-Canadians in relation to a listed vessel.

Canada made SOR/2025-143, Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations, registered 2025-06-13. The regulations add 14 new items (743-756) to Part 2 of Schedule 1, designating Russian quantum-technology institutions and firms — including the Moscow State University Quantum Technology Centre, the National University of Science and Technology's Centre for Quantum Communications, QRate, and Rusnano — triggering a dealings ban and asset freeze. The same instrument adds a new import prohibition on coal products (Schedule 5.01) and a new export prohibition on jet fuel and additives (Schedule 5.02) and on chemical/ biological-weapons-related items (Schedule 10.1), and extends the existing metals import ban (Schedule 11) to further product lines — all coming into force 60 days after registration (~2025-08-12), with a 120-day grace period for pre-existing contracts.

Canada made SOR/2025-33, Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations, registered and effective 2025-02-21. The regulations add 32 individuals (Schedule 1, Part 1) and 44 entities (Schedule 1, Part 2) tied to Russia's military-industrial base, sanctions circumvention, disinformation and the forced deportation/filtration of Ukrainian children. A new Schedule 1.1 lists 109 vessels by IMO number — 92 oil tankers and 9 LNG tankers moving Russian energy exports to third countries, plus 8 vessels moving arms and related material between Russia, Iran and North Korea — banning their access to Canadian ports and waters and prohibiting dealings, asset provision and financial/other services in relation to them.

Canada made SOR/2024-32, Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations, registered and effective 2024-02-21 on the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The regulations add 163 persons to Schedule 1 — 10 individuals and 153 entities, predominantly Russian organizations tied to military-industrial production, logistics, insurance and oil-sector support — triggering Canadian dealing/asset bans. A parallel amendment to Schedule 7 adds five new goods categories under the Harmonized System (explosives and pyrotechnics; data-processing units and components; ball and roller bearings; semiconductor manufacturing equipment; optical and navigational instruments), banning their export to Russia or Russian persons.

On 18 October 2023 the Governor in Council registered Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations (SOR/2023-220) under the Special Economic Measures Act, citing Iran's proliferation- sensitive nuclear activities and weapons-of-mass-destruction-related programme as a grave breach of international peace and security. The amendment prohibits Canadians and Canadian entities from exporting, selling or supplying to Iran dual-use goods and technology, conventional arms (battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large-calibre artillery, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships), Missile Technology Control Regime-listed equipment, and technical data related to ballistic missiles and nuclear-weapon delivery systems; it also bars importing arms and related material from Iran. The same instrument adds 156 entities and 18 individuals to Canada's Iran sanctions list (asset freeze / dealings prohibition).

Canada registered SOR/2023-46 on 2023-03-10, amending the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations to add section 3.14 and a new Schedule 11. The section prohibits any person in Canada, and any Canadian outside Canada, from importing, purchasing or acquiring the listed steel and aluminum goods from Russia or from any person in Russia. Schedule 11 covers HS Chapter 72 (iron and steel), HS 7301-7306 (sheet piling, railway material, tubes, pipes and profiles) and aluminum products. Goods under a contract entered into before the regulations came into force are exempt; the regulations took effect on registration.

Canada registered SOR/2022-98, Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations, on 6 May 2022, adding five Russian defence-sector entities to Schedule 1 of the regulations: Zelenodolsk Shipyard JSC, Military Industrial Company LLC, Rosgvardia, UEC Klimov JSC and KAMAZ PTC. The listing triggers Canada's standard dealing/asset-freeze prohibitions against the named entities under the Special Economic Measures Act, part of Canada's ongoing sanctions response to Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Belarus) Regulations, SOR/2022-49, were registered and came into force on 8 March 2022. They add 19 individuals and 25 entities to Schedule 1 and widen the listing criteria to cover persons supporting the violation of Ukraine's sovereignty or territorial integrity. Listed entities named in the regulatory impact statement include the potash producer Belaruskali OAO and the Belarusian Potash Company, the Naftan Oil Refinery and Belneftkhim, and Absolutbank, Belinvestbank, Belbizneslizing and Bank Dabrabyt. Listing brings asset freezes and dealing prohibitions for persons in Canada.

SOR/2022-28, registered and in force on 24 February 2022, amends the Special Economic Measures (Ukraine) Regulations to prohibit persons in Canada and Canadians abroad from making investments involving property in the so-called Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic regions, from importing, purchasing or acquiring goods from them, and from exporting goods destined for them. It also bars related financial services, technical assistance and tourism-related services. The prohibitions are territorial and apply to goods generally; no product list is itemised.

Canada's Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA, S.C. 1992, c. 17; assented 4 June 1992) is the foundational umbrella statute enabling the entire Canadian autonomous sanctions regime — economic measures imposed by Canada independently of UN Security Council mandatory obligations. The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, make regulations against a foreign state and its nationals or entities under four statutory triggers: (a) a grave breach of international peace and security causing or likely to cause a serious international crisis; (b) an international organisation or association of states to which Canada belongs has called for economic measures; (c) gross and systematic human-rights violations have been committed; or (d) acts of significant corruption by a foreign state's nationals or entities. As of the 2026-03-17 consolidation, 26 regulations are in force under SEMA targeting Russia, Ukraine (separatist entities), Iran, DPRK, Myanmar, Belarus, Syria, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Libya, Haiti, Nicaragua, Moldova, and others — making SEMA the parent authority for the broadest multilateral-allied autonomous-sanctions toolkit outside the United States. Structurally peer-foundational to the UK Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA), the CN Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law 2021, and Japan's FEFTA.