Compliance Radar
Who was sanctioned, and for what?
Fines, court rulings and incidents from Europe and North America: 756 cases from 32 jurisdictions, each with an official source and checked against that source before publication. Filter by country, area of law and sector. Click a chart to drill down one level.
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Where?
by levelWhat for?
by area of lawAll areas of law
Who?
by company- ArcelorMittal Exploitation Minière Canada s.e.n.c. €62.6m 96 % · 2 cases
- Rio Tinto Fer et Titane inc. €1.36m 2 % · 1 case
- Algoma Steel Inc. €747,710 1 % · 1 case
- Brunner Manufacturing & Sales Ltd. (Tecna Forge) €140,306 0 % · 1 case
- Stelco Inc. €136,295 0 % · 1 case
- Metex Heat Treating Ltd. €89,949 0 % · 1 case
- Beausite Métal inc. €24,745 0 % · 1 case
When?
per quarter, by date of decision| Period | Cases | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2023 | 0 | — |
| Q4 2023 | 0 | — |
| Q1 2024 | 1 | €136,295 |
| Q2 2024 | 0 | — |
| Q3 2024 | 0 | — |
| Q4 2024 | 1 | €67,236 |
| Q1 2025 | 1 | €1.36m |
| Q2 2025 | 1 | €140,306 |
| Q3 2025 | 1 | €89,949 |
| Q4 2025 | 1 | €24,745 |
| Q1 2026 | 0 | — |
| Q2 2026 | 1 | €62.5m |
| Q3 2026 | 1 | €747,710 |
8 cases
10 Sep 2026 Algoma Steel Inc.Algoma Steel: 1.2 million CAD fine for gear oil in the St. Marys River €747,710
In June 2022, a gear oil tank overflowed at the steelworks in Sault Ste. Marie; an estimated 1,000 to 1,250 litres of oil entered the St. Marys River, harmful to fish and migratory birds. The company pleaded guilty to two counts and is paying 1.2 million CAD into the Environmental Damages Fund; its name is listed in the Environmental Offenders Registry.
Even small tank overflows near watercourses lead to fines in the millions – overfill protection and containment systems are mandatory.
Filling and monitoring oil tanks
- Authority / court
- Ontario Court of Justice, Sault Ste. Marie (Ermittlungen: Environment and Climate Change Canada)
- Area of law
- Environment and sustainability · Waste and hazardous substances
- Legal basis
- Fisheries Act, Subsection 36(3); Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994, Subsection 5.1(1)
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- unknown
- Sector
- Steel and metals
- Mitigating circumstances
- Guilty plea.
- Published
- 11 Sep 2026
Original amount 1,200,000 CAD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 10 Sep 2026.
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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15 May 2026 ArcelorMittal Exploitation Minière Canada s.e.n.c.ArcelorMittal mining subsidiary in Québec: 100 million CAD fine for acidic mine effluent €62.5m
From May 2014 to May 2022, acidic effluent, effluent with elevated zinc, nickel or suspended solids content, and effluent that was acutely lethal to fish entered fish-bearing waters from the Mont-Wright mining complex and the Fire Lake mine in the Fermont region. The company pleaded guilty to 100 counts; the fine of 100 million CAD goes almost entirely to the Environmental Damages Fund, and an action plan on wastewater management must also be submitted by mid-February 2027.
Long-standing exceedances of limit values add up to hundreds of individual offences; effluent monitoring must lead to immediate corrective action.
- Authority / court
- Court of Québec (Ermittlungen: Environment and Climate Change Canada)
- Area of law
- Environment and sustainability · Waste and hazardous substances
- Legal basis
- Fisheries Act, Subsection 36(3)
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- unknown
- Sector
- Steel and metals
- Published
- 15 May 2026
Original amount 100,000,000 CAD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 15 May 2026.
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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17 Dec 2025 Beausite Métal inc.Beausite Métal: 40,000 CAD because PCB equipment was not disposed of despite an order €24,745
The metal recycler in Val-des-Sources had received an environmental protection compliance order to dispose of and destroy PCB-contaminated equipment. At a follow-up inspection in May 2024, the equipment was still on the site; the company pleaded guilty under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999) and was fined 40,000 CAD.
Regulatory orders need an owner and a date in the calendar – non-compliance is a separate offence.
- Authority / court
- Court of Québec (Anklage: Environment and Climate Change Canada)
- Area of law
- Environment and sustainability · Waste and hazardous substances
- Legal basis
- Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- final
- Sector
- Steel and metals
- Published
- 18 Dec 2025
Original amount 40,000 CAD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 17 Dec 2025.
- Beausite Métal inc. fined $40,000 for failing to comply with an environmental protection compliance order Press release of an authority
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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24 Jul 2025 Metex Heat Treating Ltd.Heat treatment firm Metex: CA$144,000 after flash fire during furnace start-up €89,949
When restarting a hardening furnace (hydrogen and oil quench bath) that had been shut down for weeks, residual vapours ignited because too much time elapsed between the nitrogen purge and ignition; two workers were seriously injured. Only one was wearing flame-resistant clothing; the other had not been provided with any. Fine of CA$144,000 plus victim fine surcharge.
Infrequently performed tasks such as restarting equipment require fixed step-by-step procedures and complete protective equipment for everyone involved.
Start-up procedures for industrial furnaces; protective clothing
- Authority / court
- Ontario Court of Justice Brampton (Ermittlung: Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development)
- Area of law
- Health and safety and employment law · Workplace safety and accidents
- Legal basis
- Section 25(2)(h) Occupational Health and Safety Act (Ontario)
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- final
- Sector
- Steel and metals
- Mitigating circumstances
- Guilty plea.
- Published
- 21 Aug 2025
Original amount 144,000 CAD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 24 Jul 2025.
- Brampton Company Fined $144,000 After Furnace Explosion Injures Workers (Ontario Newsroom, Court Bulletin) Press release of an authority
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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22 May 2025 Brunner Manufacturing & Sales Ltd. (Tecna Forge)Forge Tecna Forge: fatal fall during first-time press maintenance – CA$220,000 €140,306
In 2023, two employees of the forge in Niagara Falls removed a spacer from a press for the first time; instead of the guide bolts prescribed in the manual, they used makeshift steel bolts and left the piston assembly, weighing around 1.25 t, hanging from the crane. The load swung out, and a worker fell to the ground with it and died. The company had not informed the employees of the dangers of deviating from the operating manual; fine of CA$220,000 plus victim fine surcharge.
Maintenance tasks performed for the first time require instruction based on the manufacturer's manual – improvising with heavy loads ends in fatalities.
Working in accordance with the operating manual on infrequent maintenance tasks
Missing or inadequate training played a role in the decision.
- Authority / court
- Provincial Offences Court Welland (Ermittlung: Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development)
- Area of law
- Health and safety and employment law · Workplace safety and accidents
- Legal basis
- Section 25(2)(d) Occupational Health and Safety Act (Ontario)
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- final
- Sector
- Steel and metals
- Mitigating circumstances
- Guilty plea.
- Published
- 20 Jun 2025
Original amount 220,000 CAD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 22 May 2025.
- Niagara Falls Manufacturer Fined $220,000 Following Workplace Fatality (Ontario Newsroom, Court Bulletin) Press release of an authority
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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13 Jan 2025 Rio Tinto Fer et Titane inc.Rio Tinto Fer et Titane: 2 million CAD fine for nickel-bearing and acidic mine effluent €1.36m
At the Lac Tio mine near Havre-Saint-Pierre, there were nickel exceedances in 2023 after severed power cables disabled the effluent treatment, untreated acidic discharges in the summer, and a failure to take samples after an unauthorised discharge. The company pleaded guilty to eight counts and is paying 2 million CAD into the Environmental Damages Fund.
Failures of effluent treatment must be covered by emergency plans and documented through the required sampling.
Sampling and monitoring obligations after malfunctions
- Authority / court
- Court of Québec (Ermittlungen: Environment and Climate Change Canada)
- Area of law
- Environment and sustainability · Waste and hazardous substances
- Legal basis
- Fisheries Act, Subsection 36(3); Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- unknown
- Sector
- Steel and metals
- Mitigating circumstances
- Guilty plea.
- Published
- 14 Jan 2025
Original amount 2,000,000 CAD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 13 Jan 2025.
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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18 Nov 2024 ArcelorMittal Exploitation Minière Canada s.e.n.c.ArcelorMittal mining subsidiary: 100,000 CAD fine for obstructing environmental inspectors €67,236
During inspections of the Mont-Wright mining complex in June 2022, environmental inspectors requested documents on compliance with effluent regulations; the company refused to hand over some of them until September 2022. The court imposed 100,000 CAD for obstructing the inspection and ordered the documents to be produced (separate proceedings alongside the later fine of 100 million CAD).
Refusing to hand over requested documents is itself an offence – employees must know how to deal with information requests from inspectors.
Cooperation and production of documents during regulatory inspections
- Authority / court
- Court of Québec (Ermittlungen: Environment and Climate Change Canada)
- Area of law
- Environment and sustainability · Waste and hazardous substances
- Legal basis
- Fisheries Act, Section 62 (Behinderung von Kontrollbeamten); Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- unknown
- Sector
- Steel and metals
- Culpability
- intentional
- Published
- 19 Nov 2024
Original amount 100,000 CAD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 18 Nov 2024.
- ArcelorMittal Exploitation Minière Canada s.e.n.c. ordered to pay $100,000 for obstructing enforcement officers Press release of an authority
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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26 Feb 2024 Stelco Inc.Stelco: CA$200,000 after fatal conveyor accident involving a lone worker €136,295
A coal worker working alone at the Hamilton steelworks was presumably applying belt dressing spray between the running belt and the head pulley when he was fatally caught; the head section of the conveyor was not guarded, and there was no safe method for applying the spray while the belt was running. Fine of CA$200,000 plus victim fine surcharge.
Where employees have to intervene while equipment is running, a safe technical solution is needed – and lone working requires a monitoring concept.
No intervention in running conveyor systems; lone working
- Authority / court
- Ontario Court of Justice Hamilton (Ermittlung: Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development)
- Area of law
- Health and safety and employment law · Workplace safety and accidents
- Legal basis
- Section 25(1)(c) Occupational Health and Safety Act (Ontario) i. V. m. s. 196(2)(a) O. Reg. 854 (Mines and Mining Plants)
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- final
- Sector
- Steel and metals
- Mitigating circumstances
- Guilty plea; subsequently improved rules on lone working and machine guarding across the entire operation.
- Published
- 6 Mar 2024
Original amount 200,000 CAD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 26 Feb 2024.
- Workplace Fatality Results in $200,000 Fine for Hamilton Steel Company (Ontario Newsroom, Court Bulletin) Press release of an authority
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link