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Protecting Victims Act
Criminal Code overhaul — child safety, deepfakes, partner violence
A big Criminal Code update. New crimes for coercive control, sextortion, and deepfake intimate images. Tougher penalties for crimes against children. Restores mandatory minimum sentences with a new workaround for judges.
A pattern of isolating, monitoring, or financially controlling an intimate partner would be its own offence for the first time in Canada.
Making or sharing AI-generated sexual images without consent becomes illegal. Threatening to share intimate images (real or fake) becomes a separate crime. Max penalty jumps to 10 years.
Murders involving control, hate, or sexual violence would automatically be first-degree murder. When the victim is a woman, the law calls it femicide — the gender-related killing of women and girls.
All mandatory minimum sentences previously struck down by courts get restored. But judges can now go below the minimum if it would be "grossly disproportionate." That's new, and it's the government's bet to survive a court challenge.
New crimes for recruiting kids into criminal activity, threatening to share child exploitation material, and inviting kids to expose themselves on video calls. Internet providers must keep exploitation-related data for 12 months instead of 21 days.
Right now, if a trial takes too long, it gets tossed. This bill forces courts to consider other options before killing a case due to delays.
→ If someone makes a sexual deepfake of you or threatens to share your intimate images, there's now a specific crime for that — not a grey area.
→ If you're a parent, platforms like Instagram and Snapchat would face stricter rules about reporting child exploitation content, and they'd have to hold onto evidence much longer.
→ If you or someone you know has experienced partner abuse that isn't physical — controlling finances, isolating from friends, constant monitoring — that behaviour would now be a Criminal Code offence on its own.
→ If you've been a victim of a crime that got thrown out because the court took too long, this bill tries to prevent that from happening to others.
One of the biggest Criminal Code updates in years. Addresses things that are already happening to people — deepfake abuse, sextortion targeting teens, coercive partners — but the law hasn't caught up to yet. The mandatory minimum "safety valve" is brand new legal territory and will almost certainly face a court challenge.
✓ Dec 2025 — Introduced in the House of Commons
✓ Feb 2026 — Passed second reading, sent to committee
⬤ Now — Being studied by the Justice Committee
○ TBD — Still needs third reading, Senate approval, and Royal Assent
○ Realistic impact — If passed, most provisions take effect within 6–12 months. Court challenges to mandatory minimums could drag on for years.
Liberal (sponsor): Introduced the bill. Framing it as protecting victims and kids while modernizing the Criminal Code.
Conservative: Generally supportive of tougher sentencing but critical that the "safety valve" on mandatory minimums weakens them.
Bloc Québécois: Engaged in debate. Raised concerns about certain provisions and their interaction with Quebec's legal framework.
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Mixes progressive goals (coercive control, victim rights) with traditionally conservative positions (restoring mandatory minimums, tougher sentences).
Strong Borders Act
Border security, asylum, fentanyl, surveillance, money laundering — all in one
A massive bill that tightens the Canada-US border, restricts who can claim asylum and when, gives police and CSIS more surveillance tools, speeds up fentanyl precursor bans, and cracks down on money laundering.
Been in Canada more than a year before claiming asylum? Your claim won't go to the refugee board. Crossed from the US between official border points and waited 14+ days? Same thing. You'd still get a risk assessment before deportation, but the standard asylum path is cut off.
New powers to immediately cancel, suspend, or change groups of visas/permits, and freeze application processing — for "public interest" reasons like public health or national security.
Updated digital investigation powers for law enforcement and CSIS. A new law would force telecom and internet companies to have the technical ability to intercept communications when there's a warrant.
Barriers preventing police from searching mail during investigations would be removed. Canada Post itself gets new authority to open mail for inspection.
The Health Minister could rapidly ban chemicals used to make fentanyl without the usual slow regulatory process.
New limits on large cash transactions. Higher penalties. FINTRAC (Canada's financial intelligence agency) gets more power to share info with banks and police.
The Canadian Coast Guard would take on security patrols, especially in the Arctic — a direct response to northern sovereignty concerns.
→ If you're on a student or work visa, your immigration documents could theoretically be suspended or cancelled as part of a group action under the new "public interest" powers.
→ If you send or receive packages through Canada Post, police now have an easier path to search mail as part of criminal investigations.
→ If you use encrypted messaging or telecom services, your provider may be legally required to build interception capability for when law enforcement gets a warrant.
→ If you're concerned about fentanyl in your community, the faster chemical bans are designed to disrupt supply chains before they reach the street.
This is the government's big answer to US pressure on border security and the fentanyl crisis. It's also an enormous expansion of state surveillance and immigration control powers. Civil liberties groups on both left and right have flagged the mail-searching and telecom interception rules. How you feel about this bill probably depends on which part you focus on — the fentanyl crackdown or the privacy tradeoffs.
✓ Jun 2025 — Introduced in the House of Commons
⬤ Now — Being debated at second reading
○ TBD — Still needs committee study, third reading, Senate, and Royal Assent
○ Realistic impact — Massive and controversial. Could take 6+ months to pass. Some provisions could move quickly; immigration changes may face legal challenges.
Liberal (sponsor): Positioning it as essential for national security and responding to US pressure. Emphasizing fentanyl and money laundering.
Conservative: Broadly supportive of tougher border measures but argue the Liberals created the problems in the first place. Want even stricter measures.
Bloc Québécois: Raised questions about federal overreach and Quebec's role in immigration management.
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Despite coming from a centre-left government, this bill leans centre-right — restricting asylum, expanding police powers, toughening border enforcement.
Build Canada Homes Act
$13B Crown corporation to build affordable housing on federal land
The government is turning "Build Canada Homes" into an official Crown corporation with $13 billion in funding and the power to take over federal land to build affordable housing directly.
Build Canada Homes currently exists inside a government department. This bill makes it its own independent corporation with a board of directors and CEO — giving it more freedom to move quickly.
Announced in Budget 2025. That's the initial pot of money for operations and building. For context, Canada's total annual federal housing spending is around $9 billion.
The government could transfer land from Canada Lands Company — which manages surplus government property — directly to Build Canada Homes for development.
The mandate specifically includes promoting innovative construction techniques like prefab and modular building, which can be faster and cheaper than traditional methods.
→ If you're renting or trying to buy a home, this is the government's biggest structural bet on increasing housing supply. Whether it actually brings prices down depends entirely on execution and scale.
→ If there's unused federal land in your community (old military bases, government offices, etc.), it could be converted into housing developments.
→ If you work in construction, this could mean new jobs — the corporation's mandate includes scaling up building across the country.
→ Don't expect overnight results. Even if passed tomorrow, turning land into liveable homes takes years. The first projects are already in early stages, but meaningful housing supply is likely 2028+.
Canada's housing crisis is the one thing basically everyone agrees exists. The debate is about the solution. This bill says the government should build homes directly rather than just hoping the private market catches up. It's a $13-billion bet. Critics say the government is historically bad at building things on time and on budget. Supporters say the private sector alone clearly isn't solving it.
✓ Sep 2025 — Build Canada Homes announced by PM Carney
✓ Feb 2026 — Bill introduced in the House
✓ Mar 2026 — Passed second reading, sent to committee
⬤ Now — Being studied by the Human Resources Committee
○ Realistic impact — Full Crown corp status could be achieved by late 2026. Actual homes? Realistically 2028 at the earliest.
Liberal (sponsor): Central to PM Carney's housing platform. Arguing that direct government action is needed because the market isn't building fast enough.
Conservative: Skeptical of government-led building. Prefer reducing regulations, zoning reform, and incentivizing private developers. Argue this will be slow and over budget.
Bloc Québécois: Concerned about federal overreach into housing, which is traditionally a provincial responsibility.
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Government directly building housing through a Crown corporation is a centre-left approach. The right-leaning alternative is cutting red tape and letting the private sector build.
Canadian bills. Plain English. No spin.
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