Canada's Consumer Privacy Protection Act: Impact For Businesses

On November 17, 2020, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Navdeep Bains, introduced Bill C-11, An Act to enact the Consumer Privacy Protection Act and the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act and to make consequential and related amendments to other Acts, or Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2020. The proposal would modernize, and in certain respects toughen, Canadian private sector privacy law by enhancing transparency and control over personal information held by businesses, and imposing new, potentially onerous sanctions for non-compliance. This article focuses on the key differences between the federal government's current privacy framework, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, and its replacement, the Consumer Privacy Protection Act.