Introduction

About the Privacy Act Modernization Initiative

The Privacy Act is Canada’s federal legislation that governs how personal information is collected, used, disclosed and managed by Government of Canada departments, agencies and commissions, and other federal public bodies.Footnote 1 The Act came into force in 1983 – almost four decades ago. Much has changed since then. Information technology has become an increasingly important part of everyday life. Innovation and growth across major government initiatives and the private sector depend on data. Profound technological advances and social changes only begin to explain the evolution in Canadians’ expectations of how federal institutions collect, use, share and store their personal information.

The Department of Justice Canada is leading an initiative to modernize the Privacy Act so that it will adequately protect Canadians’ personal information in the digital age while allowing for responsible public sector innovation for the public good. As an important element of Canada’s personal information protection framework, a modernized Act would continue to be an important piece of the overall regime for protecting Canadians’ privacy in the twenty-first century.

Over the past few years, Justice Canada has heard from a number of stakeholders – within and outside the federal government – on how to update the personal information protection framework that applies to federal public bodies. This input includes the 28 recommendations for modernizing the Act from the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s recommendations for modernizing the Act, and calls from other stakeholders for modernizing the Act, including the Canadian Bar Association. As well, in 2019, Justice Canada led a preliminary targeted technical engagement with expert stakeholders.

This What We Heard report summarizes the main insights Justice Canada gained through the online public consultation that took place from November 16, 2020, to February 14, 2021. The main purpose of the public consultation was to gather public and stakeholder input on how to best update the Act so that Canadians can benefit from the many promises of the digital age while trusting in a renewed framework for government activities involving their personal information.

Format of the Online Public Consultation

A discussion paper outlining a possible vision for modernizing the Privacy Act was at the heart of the consultation exercise. This discussion paper set out ideas to bring the Act into the 21st century, enhance public trust in the Government of Canada’s activities involving personal information, and better align the Act with more recent privacy frameworks, both within Canada and internationally.

Canadians and interested stakeholders were provided with various means to participate in the online public consultation. Through a dedicated website, stakeholders could comment on parts of the discussion paper that were of particular interest to them on an interactive forum. Stakeholders also had the opportunity to provide more formal, detailed submissions through the website, by emailing them to Justice Canada or by sending them by mail. Participants could also complete an online survey. This survey included a series of questions dealing with familiarity with the Act, trust in federal public bodies’ activities involving personal information, and comfort with hypothetical activities involving personal information.

Ongoing Engagement with Indigenous Partners

Although the online public consultation was open to all Canadians, including Indigenous individuals, Justice Canada launched a parallel process for engaging directly with a number of Indigenous partners across Canada. Following the 2019 preliminary targeted technical engagement, which included participants such as the First Nations Information Governance Centre and the National Claims Research Directors, Justice Canada sought to engage directly with a number of Indigenous governments and organizations to better understand the unique impacts the modernization of the Privacy Act could have on Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Though the public consultation has closed, Justice Canada’s engagement with Indigenous partners is ongoing.

Justice Canada has met with a number of Indigenous governments and national and regional Indigenous organizations as part of these engagement efforts since August 2020. The focus of these discussions has been to learn about Indigenous partners’ perspectives on what is working well with the Act, what can be improved, and how the Actcould be modernized to better reflect the specific needs and expectations of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit in Canada. Through bilateral engagement sessions, participating Indigenous partners have provided valuable insights for the modernization of the Privacy Act, and have raised a number of topics that require further discussion and consideration. Justice Canada will continue to engage with Indigenous partners to gain their perspectives on potential ideas for changing the Act.