Bill C-36 — Protecting Privacy and Consumer Data Act

Bill C-36 would enact the Protecting Privacy and Consumer Data Act (PPCDA), amend the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and make related amendments to other Acts. It was tabled on 15 June 2026 by Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, and is the Carney government's successor to the private-sector privacy reforms that died with Bill C-27 (AIDA) on prorogation in January 2025.

The bill recognizes privacy as a fundamental right and establishes a new Digital Safety and Data Protection Commission of Canada with enhanced enforcement powers, penalties, transparency obligations, and individual rights (including data deletion).

The government frames Bill C-36 as a "cornerstone" of its National AI Strategy — AI for All: by giving Canadians more control over their personal data, it aims to build the public trust needed for higher adoption of AI tools.

Its most directly AI-relevant provisions govern automated decision-making systems — tools that use AI, machine learning, or predictive analytics to assist or replace human judgment — for which organizations would owe transparency and disclosure obligations where a decision could have a significant impact on an individual, and under which unfair or discriminatory profiling may be treated as an inappropriate data practice.

Notably, this bill carries forward only the privacy reforms of the former Bill C-27; it does not re-introduce AIDA, leaving Canada without dedicated AI-specific legislation.

The points above summarize what the bill says; the following reaction is editorial. Commentators such as Michael Geist have noted the bill shifts private-sector privacy oversight away from the Privacy Commissioner toward a larger, multi-mandate commission, while civil-liberties groups such as the CCLA have criticized it for broad exceptions and for not going far enough on documented AI harms.

As of writing the bill sits at first reading; Parliament rises for the summer on 19 June 2026, with the government expected to consult over the summer ahead of sittings resuming 21 September 2026.