Counterfeiting stamp, etc.
376 (1) Every person is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 14 years who
(a) fraudulently uses, mutilates, affixes, removes or counterfeits a stamp or part thereof,
(b) knowingly and without lawful excuse has in their possession
(i) a counterfeit stamp or a stamp that has been fraudulently mutilated, or
(ii) anything bearing a stamp of which a part has been fraudulently erased, removed or concealed, or
(c) without lawful excuse makes or knowingly has in their possession a die or instrument that is capable of making the impression of a stamp or part of a stamp.
Counterfeiting mark
(2) Every one who, without lawful authority,
(a) makes a mark,
(b) sells, or exposes for sale, or has in his possession a counterfeit mark,
(c) affixes a mark to anything that is required by law to be marked, branded, sealed or wrapped other than the thing to which the mark was originally affixed or was intended to be affixed, or
(d) affixes a counterfeit mark to anything that is required by law to be marked, branded, sealed or wrapped,
is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.
Definitions
(3) In this section,
mark means a mark, brand, seal, wrapper or design used by or on behalf of
(a) the government of Canada or a province,
(b) the government of a state other than Canada, or
(c) any department, board, commission or agent established by a government mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) in connection with the service or business of that government; (marque)
stamp means an impressed or adhesive stamp used for the purpose of revenue by the government of Canada or a province or by the government of a state other than Canada. (timbre)
Annotations | French
- Section 376
- A counterfeit mark is any mark that falsely purports to be a genuine official mark, regardless whether the mark actually achieved that goal. In other words, a poor counterfeit is still a counterfeit: R v Sommani, 2007 BCCA 199 at para 66.
- “Mark” includes the mark of a province, such as the trillium for Ontario: R v Smith, 2021 ONCA 310 at para 22.
- “For a mark on a government issued document to be counterfeit, the document on which it appears must at least have been altered in some way after the government issued the document and applied the mark”: R v Smith, 2021 ONCA 310 at para 27.