Lawful Access Act, 2026
Bill C-22, the Lawful Access Act 2026, gives law enforcement faster access to information needed to investigate serious crimes, including child sexual exploitation, by requiring certain entities to provide data to authorities under specific legal conditions.
Sponsor · Hon. Gary Anandasangaree
Police investigating crimes like child exploitation could get key information more quickly, potentially speeding up investigations and protecting vulnerable people — but it may also raise questions about privacy and government surveillance.
The debate · 6 points
Supporters say
- Police and national security agencies say they cannot get digital evidence in time. Slow investigations into child sexual exploitation, extortion and organized crime can cause serious, ongoing harm to victims.
- Canada is the only Five Eyes country and the only Western democracy without a comprehensive law requiring electronic service providers to build lawful access capabilities. Today, cooperation is largely voluntary and uneven.
- Part 1 is narrowly targeted. It allows a yes-or-no confirmation of whether a provider serves a given identifier, and a production order for basic subscriber information such as name and address. It also updates rules for computer searches under warrant.
Critics say
- subscriber information is highly protected, but the bill allows orders on a 'reasonable suspicion' standard, which is lower than the 'reasonable grounds to believe' standard used for similar orders in the Criminal Code. Critics also want judicial approval for voluntary disclosures.
- Requiring companies to build interception capabilities creates back doors. Critics warn that hackers and foreign actors could exploit these, weakening encryption and exposing everyone's data.
- Critics say blanket retention of metadata for up to a year would capture people not under suspicion, revealing sensitive information such as location. They argue this is disproportionate, and that the government has not shown existing tools are insufficient.
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