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A Timeline of Bill C-22 and the Canadian Chamber’s Advocacy
We are committed to continuing our advocacy on Bill C-22 with Parliamentarians and Senators, until it receives Royal Assent, or we feel that Parliament has gotten the Bill right.
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In early 2025, the federal government introduced C-2, the Strong Borders Act. Contained in this act were measures in Part 14 and 15 pertaining to how law enforcement can access the personal information of digital users online.
At the time, the Canadian Chamber’s Digital Economy Committee, Cyber Security Council and Future of AI Council engaged the Minister of Public Safety and the Minister of Justice to raise industry concerns around encryption, judicial oversight and META data retention, among other issues. We and industry felt that the laws, as written, created the conditions for encryption and privacy to be compromised.
After we and key members raised concerns to the government and participated in national consultations in December 2025, the government revised C-2 by introducing C-22 in 2026.
The new legislation for Bill C-22 was broken out as follows:
- Part I of the Bill “amends various Acts to modernize certain provisions respecting the timely gathering and production of data and information during an investigation.”
- Part II of the Bill “enacts the Supporting Authorized Access to Information Act. That Act establishes a framework for ensuring that electronic service providers can facilitate the exercise, by authorized persons, of authorities to access information conferred under the Criminal Code or the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act. It also makes related and consequential amendments to the Intelligence Commissioner Act.”
We, along with our members, were pleased to see the government amend C-22 Part I (formerly C-2 Part 14) in ways industry was hoping for, resolving many of our concerns.
However, while industry concerns were largely resolved in Part I, our collective concerns about Part II (formerly C-2 Part 15) were not addressed.
Read our statement on the introduction of Bill C-22.
David Pierce, Vice President of Government Relations and Policy Lead for the Cyber Security Council, is quoted in the Globe and Mail article “Lawful access bill could create vulnerabilities for hackers, experts warn.”
“One of the things on the metadata, is that by telling [internet service providers] they have to hold that data, they become a cybersecurity target, so that is a consideration that needs to be thought through.”
We, along with industry representatives, meet with political staff to the Minister of Public Safety in an effort to flag the widespread concerns with C-22 Part II, specifically around a lack of judicial oversight, measures that could compromise security, and metadata retention, among other concerns.
We send a letter providing our views on Bill C-22 to the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Public Safety, and the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.
The letter outlines necessary amendments to Part II and provides additional recommendations.
The Globe and Mail runs a story about the letter we sent to Ministers Anandasangaree and Fraser, “Lawful-access bill could threaten encryption, deter investment, Chamber of Commerce warns.”
Cyber Security Council Co-chair Richard Rogerson, CEO and Founder of Packetlabs Ltd., is cited in a Globe and Mail article, “White hat hackers warn lawful access bill could make it easier for criminals to penetrate Canadian systems.”
David Pierce appears before the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security to provide testimony on behalf of the Canadian Chamber’s members.
In close collaboration and coordination, over a dozen of our members and partners appear at the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security or appear in media to raise their individual concerns with this legislation.
An article by the Canadian Press that references our letter is picked up by outlets including the Toronto Star, Yahoo!Finance, CP24, The Winnipeg Sun, and CTV News.
We send a second letter to Ministers Anandasangaree and Fraser, regarding Bill C-22 with a list of requested amendments to Part I and Part II.
The Globe and Mail reports that Minister Anandasangaree is preparing to make several changes to Bill C-22 “to make it clear that encryption would not be compromised by the new law.”
We are committed to continuing our advocacy on Bill C-22 with Parliamentarians and Senators until it receives Royal Assent or until we feel that Parliament has gotten the Bill right. We will also follow and advocate for industry’s concerns on this legislation as the regulatory process gets underway following Royal Assent.
Interested in the work of the Cyber Security Council? Want to become a Council member? Let us know!
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