A number of recent developments suggest that momentum for significant reform to Canadian privacy and data protection laws is building.
In late December 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent mandate letters to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Canadian Heritage (the "Ministers") urging them to work together to implement changes to privacy laws in order to enhance the protection of Canadians' personal information.1
The mandate letters echo some of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada's recent pleas for major reform to and modernization of Canadian privacy laws.2
Mandate letters offer clues about changes to come
The Prime Minister has expressly tasked the Ministers with advancing various tenets of the Digital Charter. Released by the federal government in May 2019, the Digital Charter is a set of ten principles designed to respond to the continued impact of the digital revolution on Canadians' lives and the economy.
Footnotes
1 Mandate letter to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, December 2019; Mandate letter to the Minister of Justice, December 2019; Mandate letter to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, December 2019.
2 2018-2019 Privacy Commissioner's Annual Report to Parliament on the Privacy Act and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.
The foregoing provides only an overview and does not constitute legal advice. Readers are cautioned against making any decisions based on this material alone. Rather, specific legal advice should be obtained.
© McMillan LLP 2019
