- A court in Toronto on Wednesday ordered Volkswagen to pay a fine of Canadian dollars 196.5 million (USD 150 million) after the automaker pleaded guilty to violating environmental laws in the emissions cheating scandal.
The court accepted an agreement that the German automaker reached with the Canadian government, which in December filed a 60-count indictment against the company.
This fine is in addition to nearly Canadian dollars 2.4 billion that Volkswagen had agreed to pay in 2016 to compensate Canadians who bought some 130,000 cars that did not meet Canadian standards from 2009 to that year, as well as a Canadian dollar 17.5 million penalty for false advertising.
In December, Ottawa accused the automaker of knowingly importing cars into Canada that did not meet emission standards, after more than four years of investigation.
In a statement, Volkswagen said it had taken extensive measures "to make things right in Canada" and cooperated fully with the investigation into the cheating.
The money from the fine would be used "to support environmental projects" across Canada, the carmaker added.
Volkswagen has 30 days to pay the new fine, Judge Enzo Rodinelli said.
The amount, according to prosecutor Tom Lemon, "is 26 times the highest fine ever (imposed) for a Canadian environmental offence."