As Federal Legislation Stalls, Alberta Continues To Move Forward With Its Privacy Reform Efforts

The proclamation proroguing Parliament earlier this year significantly reduced the likelihood of reforms to Canada's Federal privacy legislation in the near term. However, the provinces are continuing to evaluate and move forward with potential reforms.

As described in our prior client update, Alberta Proposes Modernized Public Sector Privacy and Information Access Legislation: Unpacking Bills 33 and 34, Alberta has already passed Bill 33: the Protection of Privacy Act ("POPA") and Bill 34: the Access to Information Act ("ATIA"), which were both introduced to modernize Alberta's public sector privacy and access to information legislation. The ongoing implementation of POPA and ATIA is continuing, with minor amendments introduced for "clarity and consistency" on March 20, 2025.¹ It is expected that POPA and ATIA will come into force later this year, and so public bodies in Alberta and organizations that do business with them should be actively working to update