Bill C-22, An Act respecting lawful access, introduced in Parliament on March 12, 2026, would grant government and law enforcement new authority to compel electronic service providers, such as Google, X, Meta, Rogers, Telus, and Bell, to hand over Canadians’ personal data to government and law enforcement.
If passed into law, Bill C-22 will empower the federal government to order electronic service providers to:
develop capacity for extracting and organizing Canadians’ data for government and law enforcement review,
install devices that allow government and law enforcement to access Canadians’ data, and
retain Canadians’ data for up to one year.
Bill C-22 will also allow the government to issue orders in secret while also lowering the legal threshold required for lawful access to Canadians’ information.
Many of Bill C-22’s core surveillance measures were originally advanced in Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act, which has since stalled following significant opposition from civil liberties groups and the public. Bill C-22 continues to pursue “the deputization” of electronic service providers in Ottawa’s ambition to access more of Canadians’ data.
💥PAY ATTENTION, CANADA:
Toronto Police Chief admits the plan: “lawful access” is being weaponized to hunt “extremism.”
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree couldn’t help himself: “With our phones, we have so much information available to us.”
Public Safety Canada is… pic.twitter.com/XK6364M7JM
— Wiretap Media (@WiretapMediaCa) March 19, 2026
