Symposium Submissions

Access to Justice in Data Privacy: Addressing Systemic Barriers to Privacy Protection in Canadian Law

 

Abstract

Most Canadians do not understand their privacy rights or know how to defend them when their personal information is misused. This paper argues that Canada’s privacy protections are inadequate and fragmented, leaving citizens without consistent safeguards or meaningful remedies. The legal framework is split between federal and provincial jurisdictions, creating gaps and inconsistencies. Provincial courts have developed different approaches to privacy torts, and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner lacks real enforcement power. This paper examines key cases involving biometric data collection, workplace surveillance, and data breaches to show how current laws struggle to protect Canadians. Recent legislative reform efforts, particularly Bills C-26, C-27, and C-63, died in Parliament in 2025 without becoming law, leaving the outdated PIPEDA framework unchanged. The paper proposes three concrete reforms: establishing a single federal privacy standard across all provinces and industries, creating a statutory tort for privacy violations, and strengthening substantive privacy rights to match international standards like the EU’s GDPR. These changes are necessary to give Canadians real access to justice and to treat privacy as the fundamental right it should be.

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