On October 2 2025, Privacy Commissioner of Canada Philippe Dufresne appeared before the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs to discuss Bill S-209, An Act to restrict young persons’ online access to pornographic material (Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada [“OPC”], 2025-10-02).
Commissioner Dufresne expressed full support for the Bill as a measure “to help protect young people online.” He emphasized that “prioritizing privacy is a critical factor in ensuring that individuals are able to safely navigate the online world,” adding that privacy also fosters confidence in age-assurance technologies and ensures the Bill achieves its intended goal (OPC, 2025-10-02).
In his remarks, Dufresne highlighted that championing children’s privacy rights is one of his strategic priorities, referencing the OPC’s joint investigation with provincial partners into TikTok as an example of growing privacy risks for minors (OPC, 2025-10-02).
He noted that his earlier 2024 recommendations—to limit the scope of the Bill and to strengthen criteria for age-verification methods—had been adopted. The revised Bill S-209 now requires the Governor in Council to ensure privacy criteria are met, not merely consider them, and it limits personal-information collection to what is strictly necessary for age verification or estimation (OPC, 2025-10-02).
Dufresne confirmed that the OPC has conducted an exploratory consultation on age assurance and is developing guidance for implementing such mechanisms in a privacy-protective manner (OPC, 2025-10-02). He reiterated his position that age-assurance measures must protect children “while they explore online and develop, not block their access to the digital world.”
Finally, he stated that if Bill S-209 is adopted, the OPC should participate in reviewing the related regulations to ensure that “privacy and the best interest of young persons are protected” during implementation (OPC, 2025-10-02).
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