Ellie Cho | U. Ottawa Faculty of Law, CA
The Canadian Senate on Thursday passed Bill C-8, introducing a mandatory cybersecurity frmework designed to protect critical infrastructure across the country’s telecommunications, finance, energy, and transportation sectors against emerging threats.
The legislation achieves its objectives by amending the existing Telecommunications Act and enacting the new Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act.
The amendments to the Telecommunications Act grant the Governor in Council and the Minister of Industry new authorities to actively secure national networks. These powers include the ability to issue binding administrative orders to major telecommunications service providers. Specifically, the government can prohibit the use of products from specified suppliers and mandate the removal of high-risk equipment from domestic networks. The bill also enforces strict regulatory compliance by introducing monetary penalties for non-compliant operators.
Concurrently, the Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act establishes a formal framework to safeguard critical operational systems and services that are vital to national security and public safety.
