Legislative summaries

  1. Legislative Summary of Bill C-21: An Act to Amend Certain Acts and to Make Certain Consequential Amendments (Firearms)

    Legislative Summary
    44-1
    44-1-c21-e.pdf (801.79 KB)
    This bill amends the Criminal Code, the Firearms Act, the Nuclear Safety and Control Act (NSCA) and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).

    This legislative summary is available as an unedited preliminary version in PDF format only. If the bill receives Royal Assent, this version will be replaced by a final version available in both HTML and PDF formats.

    Criminal law
    Firearm offences
    Firearms
    Firearms permits
    Restricted firearms
    Statutes

  2. Legislative Summary of Bill S-12: An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Sex Offender Information Registration Act and the International Transfer of Offenders Act

    Legislative Summary
    44-1
    44-1-s12-e.pdf (1.01 MB)
    Bill S-12 responds to the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2022 decision in R. v. Nhdlovu, which held that two provisions of the Code that relate to the registration of sex offenders under the Sex Offender Information Registration Act (SOIRA) are unconstitutional. Since 2011, section 490.012 of the Code has required the mandatory registration in the NSOR of anyone who committed a sexual offence. Section 490.013(2.1) required that anyone found guilty of more than one sexual offence be registered in the NSOR for life. The Supreme Court struck down section 490.013(2.1) with immediate and retroactive effect. Section 490.012 was declared invalid, but the effect of this declaration was delayed one year to give Parliament time to respond to the decision with legislation; the provision will become invalid in October 2023.

    This legislative summary is available as an unedited preliminary version in PDF format only. If the bill receives Royal Assent, this version will be replaced by a final version available in both HTML and PDF formats.

    Sex offender registry
    Victims

  3. Legislative Summary of Bill C-41: An Act to amend the Criminal Code and to make consequential amendments to other Acts

    Legislative Summary
    44-1
    44-1-c41-e.pdf (917.94 KB)
    This bill amends the Criminal Code to allow Canadians to provide certain forms of assistance in areas controlled by a terrorist group, when authorized by the Minister of Public Safety. Bill C-41 sets out conditions that must be met before such authorization can be granted, including the completion of a security review.

    This legislative summary is available as an unedited preliminary version in PDF format only. If the bill receives Royal Assent, this version will be replaced by a final version available in both HTML and PDF formats.

    Criminal law
    Facilitating terrorist activity
    Humanitarian assistance
    Statutes

  4. Legislative Summary of Bill C-48: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (bail reform)

    (Revised)
    Legislative Summary
    44-1
    44-1-c48-e.pdf (754.53 KB)
    This bill makes changes to Canada’s Criminal Code (the Code) provisions concerning judicial interim release, also known as bail. It adds to existing reverse onus sections that shift the prosecutor’s burden of demonstrating why an accused person should be held in detention pending their trial onto the accused person, who instead must demonstrate to the judge or justice of the peace that there is no justified reason for their detention. These amendments are in response to concerns raised by various stakeholders about crimes being committed by repeat violent offenders, in particular those who use firearms. These reverse onus amendments apply to accused persons who were previously convicted of a violent offence and are subsequently charged with violent offences and/or offences involving firearms, knives, bear spray, or other weapons. The bill also proposes changes to address the risks posed by intimate partner violence, particularly by repeat offenders. It adds considerations a justice must take into account during bail decisions regarding community safety and security concerns.

    This legislative summary is available as an unedited preliminary version in PDF format only. If the bill receives Royal Assent, this version will be replaced by a final version available in both HTML and PDF formats.

    Bail
    Burden of proof
    Family violence
    Recidivism
    Violent offenders

  5. Legislative Summary of Bill S-224: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (trafficking in persons)

    Legislative Summary
    44-1
    44-1-s224-e.pdf (879.04 KB)
    Bill S-224 amends section 279.04 of the Criminal Code (the Code) in three ways: it modifies the definition of exploitation in section 279.04(1) of the Code for the purpose of human trafficking to include some of the language used in paragraph 3(a) of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (the Palermo Protocol). It deletes the criterion that the victim must have a reasonable apprehension of fear from the current definition. It repeals the interpretive provision, section 279.04(2).

    This legislative summary is available as an unedited preliminary version in PDF format only. If the bill receives Royal Assent, this version will be replaced by a final version available in both HTML and PDF formats.

    Criminal law
    Human rights

  6. Legislative Summary of Bill C-47: An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 28, 2023

    Legislative Summary
    44-1
    44-1-c47-e.pdf (1.44 MB)
    This bill has four parts:·Part 1 implements various income tax measures through amendments to the Income Tax Act (ITA) and other related statutes and regulations, including increasing the maximum deduction for tradespeople’s tools from $500 to $1,000 and implementing the Model Reporting Rules for Digital Platforms developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Part 2 implements certain goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax measures through amendments to the Excise Tax Act (ETA) and related regulations. Part 3 implements certain measures regarding excise duty in respect of beer, spirits and wine, among others, as well as the air travellers security charge. Part 4, which is further divided into 39 divisions, implements various measures. It amends numerous existing Acts that cover many areas of law. It also enacts the Canada Innovation Corporation Act and the Dental Care Measures Act.

    This legislative summary is available as an unedited preliminary version in PDF format only. If the bill receives Royal Assent, this version will be replaced by a final version available in both HTML and PDF formats.

    Excise taxes
    Federal budget
    Federal taxes
    Income taxes
    Sales taxes
    Statutes

  7. Legislative Summary of Bill C-38: An Act to amend the Indian Act (new registration entitlements)

    Legislative Summary
    44-1
    44-1-c38-e.pdf (1.01 MB)
    This bill amends the Indian Act to address the inequity of enfranchisement, enable deregistration by application, eliminate sex-based inequities in the membership provisions of the Act, and remove some outdated and offensive language from the Act. The amendments in the bill mean that individuals whose status under the Act was reinstated after enfranchisement can transmit status to their direct descendants to the same extent as individuals who were never enfranchised. Currently, only women who were reinstated after being enfranchised for marrying non-status man can transmit status to her direct descendants to the same extent as individuals who were never enfranchised (clause 4). This bill will also: repeal the term “mentally incompetent Indian” from the interpretation section of the Indian Act, replacing it with “dependent person”; permit a person to apply to have their name removed from the Indian register; and entitle a person to have their name entered on the department Band List of the band they were born into if they had ceased to be a band member as a result of marrying someone who was not a member of that band.

    This legislative summary is available as an unedited preliminary version in PDF format only. If the bill receives Royal Assent, this version will be replaced by a final version available in both HTML and PDF formats.

    Band membership
    First Nations
    Gender-based discrimination
    Indian status
    Systemic discrimination

  8. Legislative Summary of Bill C-40: An Act to amend the Criminal Code, to make consequential amendments to other Acts and to repeal a regulation (miscarriage of justice reviews)

    (Revised)
    Legislative Summary
    44-1
    44-1-c40-e.pdf (760.57 KB)
    This bill establishes the Miscarriage of Justice Review Commission, an independent commission to review and investigate alleged miscarriages of justice, and, where appropriate, refer cases to a court of appeal or order a new trial. The commission replaces the existing ministerial review process.

    This legislative summary is available as an unedited preliminary version in PDF format only. If the bill receives Royal Assent, this version will be replaced by a final version available in both HTML and PDF formats.

    Judicial review
    Law
    Legal proceedings
    Legislation
    Miscarriage of justice
    Regulations

  9. Legislative Summary of Bill C-33: An Act to amend the Customs Act, the Railway Safety Act, the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992, the Marine Transportation Security Act, the Canada Transportation Act and the Canada Marine Act and to make a consequential amendment to another Act

    Legislative Summary
    44-1
    44-1-c33-e.pdf (1.03 MB)
    This proposed legislation amends numerous laws in the rail and marine transport sectors, and it amends legislation related to the transport of dangerous goods. In the rail sector, the bill responds to the 2017–2018 Railway Safety Act (RSA) Review by making changes to the RSA and the Canada Transportation Act (CTA). In the marine transport sector, the bill makes changes to the Customs Act, the Marine Transportation Security Act, the CTA and the Canada Marine Act (CMA), as part of the government’s response to the ports modernization review completed in October 2022. The bill also amends the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992 (TDGA) “to ensure dangerous goods continue to move safely and securely across Canada.

    This legislative summary is available as an unedited preliminary version in PDF format only. If the bill receives Royal Assent, this version will be replaced by a final version available in both HTML and PDF formats.

    Border security
    Hazardous materials
    Imports
    Rail transport
    Railway safety
    Water transport

  10. Legislative Summary of Bill C-34: An Act to amend the Investment Canada Act

    Legislative Summary
    44-1
    44-1-c34-e.pdf (885.86 KB)
    This bill amends the Investment Canada Act (ICA) to strengthen the Government of Canada’s jurisdiction to detect, review and restrict proposed foreign investments which are potentially injurious to Canadian national security.

    This legislative summary is available as an unedited preliminary version in PDF format only. If the bill receives Royal Assent, this version will be replaced by a final version available in both HTML and PDF formats.

    Foreign investments
    Law
    National security