The Court of Quebec has ordered ArcelorMittal Exploitation Minière Canada to pay $100 million after the company pleaded guilty to 100 counts of violating the federal Fisheries Act, marking the largest fine ever imposed in Canada under the legislation.
The sentence, issued May 15 in Montreal, stems from a series of unauthorized deposits of deleterious substances linked to the company’s Mont-Wright mining complex and Fire Lake mine in Fermont, Quebec.
According to a court bulletin from Environment and Climate Change Canada, the violations occurred between May 2014 and May 2022 and involved acidic effluents, elevated concentrations of zinc, nickel and suspended solids, as well as substances found to be toxic to fish.
The court imposed a fine of $1 million per offence. Nearly all of the penalty — $99,999,900 — will be directed to the federal Environmental Damages Fund to support environmental restoration and protection projects.
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In addition to the fine, the company was ordered to reimburse nearly $250,000 in investigation costs. The court also directed the company to develop and submit a detailed action plan by mid-February 2027 outlining new effluent management measures for the Mont-Wright and Fire Lake operations, along with mine drainage controls at the Mont-Wright complex.
Federal investigations launched in 2018 found the company deposited, or allowed the deposit of, deleterious substances into waters frequented by fish, contrary to subsection 36(3) of the Fisheries Act.
Investigators determined the discharges were connected to shortcomings in operational planning, inadequate mitigation measures and insufficient effluent treatment systems, resulting in releases across multiple areas of the mining sites.
The affected waterways include the Petite rivière Manicouagan, Lac Irène and tributaries flowing into Lac Saint-Ange. The Lac Saint-Ange sub-watershed is a significant tributary of the Rivière Moisie, an ecologically important river system that is proposed as a provincial aquatic reserve.
The company’s Mont-Wright mining complex is the largest open-pit mine in Eastern Canada. Its operations are regulated under the Fisheries Act and the Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations.
The Environmental Damages Fund, established in 1995 and administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada, directs money collected through fines and court orders toward projects aimed at restoring damaged ecosystems and improving environmental quality in affected regions.
ArcelorMittal said 96% of the infractions to which the company pleaded guilty occurred in 2018 or earlier. Since that time, the company says it has invested more than $400 million in long-term water control and treatment infrastructure designed to improve operational and environmental water management both on site and in surrounding areas.
The company highlighted several completed projects, including the $162-million Nipi water treatment facility at Mont-Wright and a network of runoff water capture ditches intended to reduce the risk of future discharges.
“The settlement reached and announced today will mark the end of this chapter,” said President and Chief Executive Officer of ArcelorMittal Mining Canada, Mapi Mobwano, in a statement. “We are committed to improving the environmental performance of our operations. The majority of the issues associated with this claim occurred eight years ago or more and since then we have invested CDN $400 million to improve water issues on site,” Mobwano added. “I am confident that the steps we have taken will avoid such situations in the future.”
ArcelorMittal Exploitation Minière Canada was also fined $100,000 by the Court of Quebec in late 2024 after pleading guilty to violating the Fisheries Act. The case stemmed from incidents between June and September 2022, when the company obstructed Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers during an inspection at the Mont-Wright mining complex. During the June 14–17, 2022 inspection, officers requested documents to verify compliance with the Fisheries Act and the Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations, but the company failed to cooperate as required.
