Legal and Constitutional Affairs

Thursday, June 4, 2026

The Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs has the honour to table its

EIGHTH REPORT

Your committee, which was authorized to examine the subject matter of Bill C-25, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and to enact An Act to change the names of certain electoral districts, 2026, has, in obedience to the motion carried in the Senate on May 7, 2026, examined the said subject-matter and now reports as follows:

Bill C-25 was introduced in the House of Commons on March 26, 2026 by the Honourable Steven MacKinnon, Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. After receiving second reading, the bill was referred to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (PROC) on April 24, 2026.

On May 7, 2026, the Senate adopted a government motion to authorize the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs (the committee) to study the subject matter of Bill C-25. The motion included a reporting deadline of June 4, 2026 for the committee’s pre-study of Bill C-25.¹

Bill C-25 amends several aspects of the Canada Elections Act (CEA),² including reforms related to the production of excessively long ballots, disinformation and foreign interference in elections, contributions for partisan activities, voter privacy protections, and the enforcement powers of the Commissioner of Canada Elections. The bill also enacts An Act to change the names of certain electoral districts, 2026, which changes the names of 19 federal electoral districts in seven provinces.

The committee studied the subject matter of Bill C-25 over the course of two meetings (totalling four hours and 35 minutes) on May 27, 2026 and May 28, 2026. It heard testimony from the Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, the Commissioner of Canada Elections, and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, as well as from academics, legal experts and stakeholders. In addition to the testimony heard, the committee has received numerous written submissions from interested parties.

The committee appreciates the evidence provided in the short timeframe allotted for the pre-study of Bill C-25 and offers the following observations for the government’s consideration.

Bill C-25 introduces amendments to the regime governing the protection of personal information by federal political parties under the CEA. These amendments follow other recent changes to the same regime made by Part 4 of Bill C-4, An Act respecting certain affordability measures for Canadians and another measure, the subject matter of which the committee studied and reported on in February 2026.³ The Privacy Commissioner of Canada and other privacy experts testified that Bill C-25 does not adequately address the serious concerns that were raised in evidence during the committee’s study of the subject matter of Part 4 of Bill C-4. The committee heard from some witnesses that the reforms proposed in Bill C-25 would fail to bring the privacy regime governing federal political parties in line with international standards.

In addition to the provisions respecting privacy, Bill C-25 introduces amendments related to several other matters of critical importance to Canada’s electoral process and core democratic values. The committee regrets that, given the limited time allotted by the government for the pre-study, it could not give due consideration to these important issues. For example, the Chief Electoral Officer proposed several amendments to the bill that committee members were unable to adequately examine in the time provided. Nor did the committee have the opportunity to hear from representatives of any federal political parties; they were invited but could not attend because of scheduling issues. As a result, the committee, missed key stakeholder perspectives. The committee would also have welcomed more extensive testimony on how the bill addresses foreign interference and developments in artificial intelligence, including the use of deep fakes.

Furthermore, the committee heard testimony indicating that under Bill C-25, a person who signs the nomination paper of more than one prospective candidate would be subject to the same maximum administrative monetary penalty as someone who counsels others to sign multiple nomination papers in an orchestrated manner. The committee is concerned that there may be different types of violations that would be subject to the same maximum penalty.

With these concerns in mind, the committee looks forward to conducting a more thorough and comprehensive study of Bill C-25 when the bill is referred to the committee.

[1] Senate, Journals, 7 May 2026.

[2]Canada Elections Act, S.C. 2000, c. 9.

[3] Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, The subject matter of Part 4 of Bill C-4, An Act respecting certain affordability measures for Canadians and another measure, Fourth Report, February 18, 2026. Bill C-4 received royal assent on March 12, 2026.

Respectfully submitted,