Reports

The privacy rights of Canadians, long protected by common law and more recently under Charter section 8, are increasingly threatened by federal legislation that expands state access to personal information. Bills C-8, C-22, the Customs Act, and other laws have lowered disclosure thresholds, authorized information-sharing between government institutions and law enforcement, and normalized surveillance practices that undermine reasonable expectations of privacy. Bill C-34, now before Parliament, further threatens privacy rights. At the same time, weaknesses in Canada’s foundational privacy laws – PIPEDA (and its proposed replacement, PPCDA) and the Privacy Act – leave Canadians vulnerable to unnecessary collection, retention, and disclosure of personal information. Robust legislative reforms are needed to restore meaningful privacy protections.