Bill C-22, the federal government’s “lawful access” bill, would give police and spy agencies sweeping new ways to reach into the digital tools people in Canada use every day. It passed the House of Commons in June after the government cut off debate at committee, leaving more than 100 proposed amendments largely undiscussed. The government made last-minute changes before the bill left the House, but the most dangerous parts of the bill remain intact:
You would have no way of knowing whether the services you trust have been changed to watch you. Part 2 of the bill creates a new law, the Supporting Authorized Access to Information Act, that lets the government order a wide range of companies to redesign their services so police and security agencies can access your information. This covers telecom companies, messaging apps, cloud storage, social media platforms, AI tools, smart devices and more. A judge does not have to approve these orders, and companies are required to keep them secret. People would keep using apps and devices they believe are secure, with no guarantee that they are.
Making services easier for police to access makes them easier for hackers to access too. To comply with these orders, companies would have to build special ways for police to get past the security that normally protects your data and communications. But a weakness built into a system works for anyone who finds it. This is not hypothetical. In 2024, a hacking group linked to China’s Ministry of State Security broke into US telecom networks and took over the surveillance access points those companies had been required by law to build. Bill C-22 would allow the government to require similar systems across a far wider range of services, putting the personal, financial, and business data of everyone in Canada at greater risk.
It creates a record of everyone's digital life. The government could also require companies to track and store metadata on every person who uses their services for up to six months. Metadata shows where you go, who you contact, and when. Collecting this information on the entire population treats everyone as a suspect, and every database of this kind is a target for misuse, leaks, and theft.
It lowers the bar for police access. Subscriber information is what connects an anonymous account, phone number, or internet connection to a real name and address. The Supreme Court of Canada has recognized that this information deserves strong protection, because knowing who is behind online activity can expose the most private details of a person’s life. Under Bill C-22, police will be able to obtain court orders for this sensitive information with minimal justification, allowing them to identify far more innocent people during each investigation.
Your personal information could end up in the hands of foreign governments. Bill C-22 clears the way for Canada to adopt information-sharing agreements with the United States and other countries, including governments that have used cross-border police cooperation to track down and persecute political dissidents living in Canada and in other countries. Once your information leaves Canada, the protections of the Canadian Charter do not always travel with it—for example, US law gives people outside the United States few enforceable privacy rights.
The watchdogs meant to catch abuse can’t keep up. Because so much of this regime operates in secret, the public would have to rely on independent watchdogs to spot misuse. But the bodies responsible for that work, including the Privacy Commissioner and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency, are already stretched thin and lack the powers to keep up with their current responsibilities. Bill C-22 would hand the government sweeping new surveillance powers while leaving the checks on those powers weaker than the job requires.
Bill C-22 is now before the Senate, the last opportunity for the full, public scrutiny it has not yet received. Tell the government and the Senate to rein in the bill’s dangerous surveillance powers before it becomes law. Sign the petition today!
To the Senators of Canada:
We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned that Bill C-22 would expand state surveillance in Canada to an unprecedented degree, weaken the security of the digital services we all rely on, and put the privacy of millions of people at risk. A bill with consequences this serious deserves careful, public study.
We call on the Senate to:
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Give Bill C-22 the thorough and transparent study the House of Commons did not, including hearing from civil liberties, privacy, and cybersecurity experts.
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Remove Part 2 of the bill, the Supporting Authorized Access to Information Act, including its powers to compel surveillance capabilities and mass metadata retention.
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Keep the existing ‘reasonable grounds to believe’ standard for court orders to access subscriber information, rather than lowering it to ‘reasonable grounds to suspect.’”
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Ensure Canada does not expand information-sharing with foreign governments without strong, enforceable protections against abuse.
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Reject Bill C-22 if its fundamental flaws are not fixed.
Weakening the security of the services we all rely on does not make anyone safer.
Add your name and share this petition with your networks. The more of us who speak up, the harder we are to ignore.
