Bill C-13: Cyberbullying Bill Introduces New Lawful Access Measures

On December 9, 2014, Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Canada Evidence Act, the Competition Act and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, also known as the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act (Act), received royal assent. The Act, sometimes colloquially referred to as Canada's cyberbullying law, was originally introduced in the House of Commons on November 20, 2013, and will come into force on March 9, 2015.

Although this legislation does introduce provisions concerning cyberbullying, it does much more than that. Most notably, the Act contains provisions that concern entities that possess or control computer data or certain financial data, such as internet service providers (ISPs), telecommunications service providers (TSPs) and financial institutions. These provisions have been the subject of various bills over the years that have been proposed by both liberal and conservative governments. In all cases, these bills failed to