CPA ACP

NPF, CPA and CACP call for passage of Bill C-22 to provide necessary lawful access in Canada

June 3, 2026

Ottawa, ON — The National Police Federation (NPF), the Canadian Police Association (CPA) and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) are calling on Parliament to pass Bill C-22, An Act respecting Lawful Access, without delay to create a lawful access framework and ensure court-authorized investigative tools are available to police to effectively protect Canadians in the digital age.

Canada is the only Five Eyes country without a modern lawful access framework. While the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand have long required providers to maintain basic capabilities to comply with lawful court orders, Canada continues to operate with no such legislation, relying only on outdated rules designed for an earlier era of communication technology. The result is a growing gap between the reality of modern investigation needs and the legal tools available to support them.

Bill C-22 is a long-overdue step toward closing that gap. It does not create new search or surveillance powers. Rather, it would require telecommunications companies and online platforms to have the technical means to comply with judicial authorizations that already exist under the Criminal Code and the CSIS Act. When a Canadian court issues a lawful order, the framework should be capable of, and required to, deliver on that authorization.

For police officers and investigators, lawful access is not an abstract policy debate. It can determine whether authorities can quickly locate a missing child, identify the source of a livestreamed sexual assault, or intervene before online extremist threats become real-world violence.

Critical leads are now routinely tied to activity on encrypted messaging apps, cloud-based platforms and foreign-hosted services, including the digital identifiers and metadata needed to connect an account to a real person. Bill C-22 would not change the requirement to obtain a warrant or a court order where one is required; it would help ensure those judicial authorizations are technologically meaningful by requiring digital services providers to maintain capabilities necessary to respond.
The bill does not create new powers to intercept communications or require companies to weaken or break end-to-end encryption; it is focused on making sure existing, court authorized tools can be used effectively in today’s technologies.

The consequences of inaction are borne by real people: children whose abuse is traded through encrypted channels, women stalked and threatened through anonymous applications, and families re-victimized when violent or exploitative content continues to circulate online. A system that makes it practically impossible to enforce lawful orders against powerful digital intermediaries is not a privacy victory; it is an enforcement failure that can leave the most vulnerable exposed.
Much of the opposition to lawful access modernization has come from large, for-profit, multinational electronic service providers operating in Canada. These companies have raised concerns about cost, technical feasibility, and potential impacts on privacy and innovation. Similar concerns were raised in other jurisdictions when their lawful access frameworks were successfully updated. These service providers, however, continue to operate in those countries where they are required to comply with lawful orders approved by independent courts. Strong privacy protections and effective lawful access can and must coexist.

Government cannot allow foreign corporations to dictate public safety in Canada. Canadians rightfully expect Government to act in their best interests, not those of multinational companies who are fixated on profit, not safety. Bill C-22 ensures Canada can hold these actors to account to protect Canadians and enhance public safety in this country in the digital age.

“Canada’s police officers are increasingly investigating crimes that begin and end online, yet many of the legal tools available to them were not built for our digital era,” said Brian Sauvé, President and CEO of the National Police Federation. “Bill C-22 is not about expanding surveillance or weakening privacy. It is about ensuring that when a judge authorizes access to basic digital identifying information, the system can and must respond. This is a long-overdue step to bring Canada in line with its allies while maintaining judicial oversight, privacy safeguards, and accountability.”

“Police officers across Canada are being asked to investigate serious crimes in an environment where the evidence, the victims, and the offenders are increasingly online. They are not asking Parliament for shortcuts around the law. They are asking for a lawful access framework that makes existing judicial authorizations meaningful in a digital environment”, said Tom Stamatakis, President, Canadian Police Association. “Supporting police means more than slogans, and more than sentencing debates after the damage is done. It also means ensuring investigators have lawful, court-supervised tools that actually work, with the oversight, accountability, and privacy protections Canadians expect.”

“Canadians should not allow profit-driven businesses and special interest advocates to dictate the essential elements of an effective, balanced, and judicially supervised lawful access framework. Since 2001, the CACP has formally called on the Federal government for changes to lawful access legislation; over the last 25 years, there have been no meaningful changes, while at the same time, technology has advanced creating a safe haven for cyber-enabled crime, such as, internet child sexual exploitation, fraud, extortion, terrorist financing, hate crimes, and extremism,” said Thomas Carrique, President, Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and Commissioner, OPP. “The time to prioritize public safety is now - frankly, in today's technology-driven borderless world, C-22 is critically needed and necessary - without it, other legislation and the overall justice system will not be effective, leaving Canadians vulnerable to some of the most serious crimes, threatening the safety and security of Canada.”

Bill C-22 would help restore meaning to court orders, provide a clearer and more transparent framework for authorized access, and signal to victims that Parliament recognizes the realities of harm in the digital age. The NPF, CPA and CACP are urging Parliamentarians to advance this legislation and ensure Canada’s lawful access framework keeps pace with the technologies increasingly used to facilitate serious crime.

Bill C-22 is a necessary and overdue reform. Passing it would help ensure that lawful protections available on paper can be enforced in practice, while maintaining the oversight, accountability and privacy safeguards Canadians expect.

About the National Police Federation:
The National Police Federation (NPF) represents ~20,000 RCMP Members serving across Canada and internationally. We are the largest police union in Canada. The NPF is focused on improving public safety for all Canadians, including our Members by advocating for much-needed investment in the public safety continuum. This includes investments in police resourcing and modern equipment, as well as social programs including health, addiction, and housing supports to enhance safety and livability in the many communities we serve, large and small, across Canada. For more information: npf-fpn.com.

About the Canadian Police Association (CPA):
The Canadian Police Association is the largest national organization for front-line civilian and sworn police personnel in Canada. Our work focuses on public safety, effective justice policy, officer and member wellness, appropriate resources for police services, and the working conditions of the people who serve our communities. The CPA is non-partisan, independent, and member-driven. Our advocacy is guided by the experience of front-line police personnel and the needs of the communities they serve.

About the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP):
The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) is dedicated to the support and promotion of efficient law enforcement and to the protection and security of the people of Canada. Much of the work in pursuit of its new mandate, developed in 2013, “safety and security for all Canadians through innovative police leadership”, is done through the activities and special projects of a number of committees and through active liaison with various levels of government and departmental ministries having legislative and executive responsibility in law and policing.

Media Contacts
National Police Federation (NPF)
Zak Fairbrother 
Manager, Communications
548.350.1613
Media@npf-fpn.com

Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP):
Natalie Wright
Manager, Communications
613.838.8807  communications@cacp.ca

Canadian Police Association (CPA)
Michael Gendron Communications Officer
613.231.4168 ext. 229 mgendron@cpa-acp.ca