Ottawa to amend encryption, metadata elements of contentious lawful access bill

OTTAWA — The federal government will amend its controversial lawful access bill to address concerns about encryption and metadata, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said Wednesday.

“The encryption issue is one we will clarify because this bill was never meant to breach encryption,” Anandasangaree said.

He said the government’s understanding of the language in the bill on systemic vulnerabilities is that breaching encryption would not be allowed.

“So we will clarify it in the bill and we look forward to working with the opposition on appropriate language that we can live with,” Anandasangaree said.

He said the government also will provide a clear definition of metadata in the legislation and ensure its requirements are in line with similar legislation in the U.S.

“We would ensure that the metadata piece is in line with our U.S. counterpart’s language in their bill that essentially speaks to lawful access,” Anandasangaree said.

He added the government also will address concerns about compensation for electronic service providers.

“We will look at a range of … amendments that will come forward and we will be reasonable in how we assess it,” Anandasangaree said.

“What we are looking for is to get this bill passed through the House as soon as possible. Law enforcement does require this as a baseline.”

The bill is currently before the House of Commons public safety committee.

The government has maintained the bill will ensure law enforcement agencies have the legal tools to prevent, investigate and respond to modern crime and protect Canadians in a Charter-compliant manner.

But opponents argue the legislation unnecessarily expands the powers of police and intelligence agencies. The bill has run into fierce opposition from civil liberties groups and law professors who say it would open the door to serious privacy infringements. It also has drawn criticism from members of the U.S. Congress.

Big tech companies Apple and Meta have said the legislation threatens to compromise their encryption services, while encrypted messaging service Signal and virtual private network service NordVPN have warned they could pull out of Canada if the bill requires them to compromise privacy.

Under the bill, authorities could demand that a telecommunications provider like Bell or Rogers reveal whether it provides service to an individual or a number of interest — a measure intended to speed up investigations.

The bill would also require electronic service providers to develop and maintain the technical capabilities necessary to enable police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to effectively obtain communications and information for investigations.

The bill would introduce mandatory requirements for certain core providers — likely large telecommunications companies and satellite providers — to have specific capabilities. In addition, the public safety minister could issue a ministerial order to require a provider to develop a particular capability, even if they are not a core provider. The bill would prohibit a provider from disclosing the existence or content of a ministerial order.

Meta said this could require companies to build or maintain capabilities that break or weaken encryption, or force providers to install government spyware directly on their systems.

The company said while the bill purports to protect against risks to encryption by allowing providers to challenge demands that would introduce a “systemic vulnerability,” the definition of such a vulnerability is unclear.

“Essential terms like ‘encryption’ are left to be defined in regulation, while ministerial orders can override those same regulations,” the company said.

Apple said the legislation could allow the government to force companies to break encryption by inserting backdoors into their products.

The bill would also allow for regulations requiring service providers to retain metadata — digital traces of a communication, but not the email or text itself — for up to one year.

Critics of the provision say the measure would allow for the capture of private information about ordinary Canadians who have no connection to any crime.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2026.

— With files from Jim Bronskill

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press