Overhauling PIPEDA: Highlights From Canada's New Privacy Legislation

The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act ("PIPEDA") came into force nearly 20 years ago. PIPEDA, as well as its "substantially similar" counterparts in British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec, were landmark pieces of legislation that forced the private sector to begin taking seriously the privacy of the consuming public.

Though PIPEDA has had a largely positive impact insofar as protection of privacy is concerned, much has changed in the two decades since its enactment. Enter Bill C-11: the Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2020. The Act, which is part of Canada's broader "Digital Charter" initiative announced last year, will, if passed, enact the Consumer Privacy Protection Act ("CPPA") and the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act ("PIDPTA"). Collectively, this legislation would change Canada's privacy landscape by overhauling PIPEDA and making Canada's consumer privacy protections more relevant to the modern data