Comparative Table Of Personal Information Protection Laws

I hear some version of this from general counsel more often every year: they don't blindly trust their outside firm anymore, they verify it, the same way they verify every other vendor with access to their data. That shift catches a lot of firms off guard. Lawyers see themselves as trusted advisors, but procurement and legal ops teams see a law firm as one more party holding sensitive information. To them, that means proof, not just a handshake.

Canada's privacy regulator has released new draft guidance establishing comprehensive due diligence standards for organizations evaluating third-party service providers under PIPEDA. The framework introduces eleven best practices covering everything from data flow mapping and AI training data sourcing to vendor lock-in risks and ongoing monitoring obligations, signaling heightened expectations for privacy accountability in vendor relationships.

En juin 2026, le gouvernement fédéral a présenté le projet de loi C-36, qui remplacerait la Loi sur la protection des renseignements personnels et les documents électroniques (la LPRPDE) par une nouvelle...

Ce bulletin mensuel a été préparé par le groupe Protection des renseignements confidentiels, vie privée et cybersécurité de Fasken pour vous présenter les actualités et les développements récents qui ont attiré notre attention. Si vous avez des questions sur l’un des sujets abordés dans ce bulletin, communiquez avec l’un des membres de ce groupe, qui se fera un plaisir de vous aider.

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board’s (TRREB) Q4 2025 Commercial Report records commercial and retail average net lease rates at $29.97 per square foot, up 18.3 per cent year-over-year

This is a monthly bulletin published by the Privacy and Cybersecurity Group at Fasken with noteworthy news and updates. If you have any questions about the items in this bulletin, please contact any member of the Privacy and Cybersecurity Group, and we will be pleased to assist.

Canada's proposed Bill C-36 would fundamentally transform private-sector privacy law by replacing PIPEDA with the Protecting Privacy and Consumer Data Act. Organizations face stricter data collection tests, new consent exceptions, explicit AI governance rules, and penalties reaching $25 million or 5% of global revenue for knowing violations.

In June 2026, the federal government introduced Bill C-36, which would effectively replace the existing Personal Information and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”) with a new Protecting Privacy...

When does protecting the public justify reaching into an employee's private life?

Canada is often the first international market a US or European company enters, and it is usually the one leadership underestimates. The language is familiar, the legal system outside Quebec is common law, and the commercial culture feels close to home. That familiarity is exactly what makes Canada expensive for companies that treat market entry as an administrative exercise rather than a legal one.

‘Interest’ is deductible in terms of section 24J(2) of the Income Tax Act. The term ‘interest’ is defined to include any interest ‘or similar finance charges’. The meaning of ‘similar finance charges’ has been uncertain since the 2016 amendment replaced the broader expression ‘related finance charges’ with ‘similar finance charges’. Under the previous wording, the SCA held in CSARS v South African Custodial Services that various costs closely connected to obtaining finance, including guarantee, advisory, margin, commitment, legal and administration fees, qualified as ‘related finance charges’.

Effective September 8, 2026, Canada implemented retaliatory tariffs on certain U.S. goods in response to the initial 50% tariffs imposed by the US under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930. To operationalize these measures, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) issued Customs Notice 26-23, establishing binding administrative rules on how the surtax will be applied, calculated, and collected.

The recent breakdown of Canada-US trade talks and the tariff measures that followed have prompted Canadian businesses to reassess how they manage cross-border trade. While higher costs may be the most immediate concern, the broader challenge is the unpredictability that cannot be treated as a temporary anomaly.

Private corporations governed by the Canada Business Corporations Act (the “CBCA”) should ensure that their register of individuals with significant control (an “ISC Register”) is complete, accurate and up to date. Corporations Canada has begun issuing official inquiries to certain CBCA corporations in connection with their ISC Register filings, particularly where a corporation has reported that it has no individuals with significant control (“ISCs”).

With Labour Day now behind us, Parliament Hill is gearing up for its September 21 return. Canada’s counter-tariffs on nearly $28 billion in American goods are now in force, and the United States has already escalated in response: President Trump has signed measures to ban certain Canadian alcohol, dairy-related products, molasses, non-alcoholic beer, motorcycles and mopeds from entering the U.S. market as of September 29, while modifying the list of Canadian goods subject to 50% tariffs effective September 15 and directing action to remove Canadian-origin products from U.S. government procurement schedules.

On July 15, 2026, the Competition Bureau (the “Bureau”) released its proposed Cartel Enforcement Guidelines (the “Guidelines”) for public consultation. The Guidelines, intended to improve transparency and predictability, provide the Bureau's updated enforcement framework for sections 45 to 49 of the Competition Act (the “Act”), consolidating and modernizing guidance previously contained in the Bureau's Competitor Collaboration Guidelines and Enforcement Guidelines on wage-fixing and no-poaching agreements.

The Government of Alberta has reportedly become the first jurisdiction in Canada to use artificial intelligence (“AI”) in the initial drafting of the Alberta Whisky Act (the “Whisky Act”). The Whisky Act, which came into effect on May 21, 2026, establishes new standards and definitions for what qualifies as “Alberta Whisky”, including requirements relating to production standards, ingredients, and processes. According to the province, AI was used as part of the drafting process, with government officials and legislative counsel retaining responsibility for review, revision, and all levels of approval.

The Ontario Court of Appeal recently released its decision in Wigdor v. Facebook Canada Ltd., addressing two significant issues for Ontario employers: the enforceability of termination clauses that purport to limit an employee's entitlements, and the application of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) to equity-based compensation documents such as Restricted Stock Unit (RSU) agreements.

On June 20, 2025, the Supreme Court of British Columbia released its decision in Lorval Developments Ltd. v. Langley (Township), 2025 BCSC 1148, setting aside the Township of Langley’s Community Amenity Contributions Policy (the “Policy”) on the basis that it amounted to a mandatory amenity payment regime without statutory authority. For local governments, developers, and landowners, this decision is significant because it confirms that municipalities cannot require community amenity contributions ("CACs") as a condition of rezoning unless expressly authorized by statute

A regulatory shift now under consideration in Ontario could reshape how the province’s medical aesthetic clinics operate. The proposal, which would change how nurses are authorized to administer medical aesthetic services, invites a broader look at how Ontario currently regulates cosmetic injections and how the proposed changes would align the province more closely with the regulatory frameworks already in place elsewhere in Canada. While these procedures are often marketed as routine “spa” services, they remain medical acts that involve prescription products and carry clinical risks.