156. The disciplinary council shall impose on a professional convicted of an offence referred to in section 116, one or more of the following penalties in respect of each count contained in the complaint:(a) reprimand;
(b) temporary or permanent striking off the roll, even if he has not been entered thereon from the date of the offence;
(c) a fine of not less than $2,500 nor more than $62,500 for each offence;
(d) the obligation to remit to any person entitled to it a sum of money the professional is or should be holding for him;
(d.1) the obligation to transmit a document or the information contained in any document, and the obligation to complete, delete, update or rectify any document or information;
(e) revocation of his permit;
(f) revocation of his specialist’s certificate;
(g) restriction or suspension of his right to engage in professional activities.
The disciplinary council shall impose at least the following penalties on a professional found guilty of having engaged in a derogatory act referred to in section 59.1 or an act of a similar nature set out in the code of ethics of the members of the professional order:(a) in accordance with subparagraph b of the first paragraph, striking off the roll for at least five years, unless he convinces the council that striking off for a shorter time would be justified in the circumstances; and
(b) a fine, in accordance with subparagraph c of the first paragraph.
When determining the penalties to be imposed under the second paragraph, the council shall take into account(a) the seriousness of the facts of which the professional was found guilty;
(b) the conduct of the professional during the syndic’s inquiry and, if applicable, during the processing of the complaint;
(c) the measures taken by the professional to facilitate his reintegration into the practice of his profession;
(d) how the offence is related to what characterizes the practice of the profession; and
(e) the impact of the offence on public trust in the order’s members and in the profession itself.
The disciplinary council shall impose at least temporary striking off the roll in accordance with subparagraph b of the first paragraph on a professional found guilty of having appropriated, without entitlement, sums of money or securities held by him on behalf of a client or of having used sums of money or securities for purposes other than those for which they were entrusted to him in the practice of his profession.
For the purposes of subparagraph c of the first paragraph, when an offence is continuous, its continuity shall constitute a separate offence, day by day. In the case of a subsequent offence, the minimum and maximum fines prescribed in that subparagraph are doubled.
The decision of the disciplinary council imposing one or more of such penalties may include terms and conditions. Where there is more than one penalty, it may also prescribe that the penalties apply consecutively.
The disciplinary council shall, on rendering a decision imposing provisional striking off the roll or a provisional restriction or suspension of a professional’s right to engage in professional activities, decide whether a notice of the decision must be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the place where the professional has his professional domicile and in any other place where the professional has practised or could practise. If the council orders the publication of a notice, it must, in addition, decide whether publication expenses are to be paid by the professional or by the order, or apportioned between them. The secretary of the council shall choose the newspaper most likely to be read by the professional’s clientele.
A notice shall include the name of the professional found guilty, the place of his professional domicile, the name of the order of which he is a member, his specialty, if any, the date and nature of the offence committed by him and the date and a summary of the decision.
A decision of the disciplinary council condemning the complainant or the professional to costs, or imposing a fine on the professional or ordering him or the order, or both, to pay the expenses referred to in the seventh paragraph may, in default of voluntary payment, be homologated by the Superior Court or the Court of Québec according to their respective jurisdictions, having regard to the amount involved, and such decision shall become enforceable as a judgment of that Court.
1973, c. 43, s. 153; 1977, c. 66, s. 10; 1983, c. 54, s. 24; 1988, c. 29, s. 40; 1988, c. 21, s. 66; 1994, c. 40, s. 134; 2007, c. 25, s. 1; 2008, c. 11, s. 1, s. 113, s. 151; 2017, c. 112017, c. 11, s. 7411.