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SECU Committee Report

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Bill C-26, An Act respecting cyber security, amending the Telecommunications Act and making consequential amendments to other Acts
In accordance with its Order of Reference of Monday, March 27, 2023, your committee has considered Bill C-26, An Act respecting cyber security, amending the Telecommunications Act and making consequential amendments to other Acts, and agreed on Monday, April 8, 2024, to report it with the following amendments:

Clause 2

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing line 13 on page 1 with the following:

“15.1 (1) If the Governor in Council believes on reasonable grounds that it”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing lines 15 and 16 on page 1 with the following:

“nications system against any threat, including that of interference, manipulation, disruption or degradation, the Governor in Coun-”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing line 17 on page 1 with the following:

“cil may, by order and after consultation with the persons the Governor in Council considers appropriate,”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by adding after line 5 on page 2 the following:

“(1.1) The provisions of the order must, in scope and substance, be reasonable to the gravity of the threat of interference, manipulation, disruption or degradation.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by adding after line 8 on page 2 the following:

“(2.1) Before making the order, the Governor in Council must consider

(a) its operational impact on the affected telecommunications service providers;

(b) its financial impact on the affected telecommunications service providers;

(c) its effect on the provision of telecommunications services in Canada; and

(d) any other factor that the Governor in Council considers relevant.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing line 12 on page 2 with the following:

“lished in the Canada Gazette within 90 days after the day on which it is made, unless the Governor in”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended

(a) by replacing line 23 on page 2 with the following:

“15.2 (1) If there are reasonable grounds to believe that it is necessary to”

(b) by replacing lines 4 and 5 on page 3 with the following:

“(1) or 15.1(1) — that is specified in the order and in respect of which there are reasonable grounds to believe is necessary to secure the Canadi-”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing lines 25 and 26 on page 2 with the following:

“tem against any threat, including that of interference, manipulation, disruption or degradation, the Minister may, by order and af-”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing line 28 on page 2 with the following:

“Emergency Preparedness and with the persons the Minister considers appropriate,”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by

(a) replacing lines 1 to 8 on page 3 with the following:

“(2) If the Minister believes on reasonable grounds that it is necessary to do so to secure the Canadian telecommunications system against any threat, including that of interference, manipulation, disruption or degradation, the Minister may, by order,”

(b) adding after line 12 on page 4 the following:

“(m) direct a telecommunications service provider to do a specified thing or refrain from doing a specified thing, other than a thing specified in subsection (1) or 15.1(1).”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by adding after line 12 on page 4 the following:

“(m) require that a telecommunications service provider use a backup system for telecommunications facilities.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by adding after line 12 on page 4 the following:

“(2.1) The provisions of an order made under subsection (1) or (2) must, in scope and substance, be reasonable to the gravity of the threat of interference, manipulation, disruption or degradation.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by adding after line 12 on page 4 the following:

“(2.1) For greater certainty, despite subsection (2), the Minister is not permitted to order a telecommunications service provider to intercept a private communication or a radio-based telephone communication, as those terms are defined in section 183 of the Criminal Code.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by adding after line 15 on page 4 the following:

“(3.1) Before making an order under subsection (1) or (2), the Minister must consider

(a) its operational impact on the affected telecommunications service providers;

(b) its financial impact on the affected telecommunications service providers;

(c) its effect on the provision of telecommunications services in Canada; and

(d) any other factor that the Minister considers relevant.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing line 19 on page 4 with the following:

“published in the Canada Gazette within 90 days after the day on which it is made, unless the Minister di‐”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by adding after line 31 on page 4 the following:

“15.21 (1) The Minister shall cause to be tabled in each House of Parliament, within three months after the end of each fiscal year or, if either House is not then sitting, on any of the first 15 days of the next sitting of that House, a report on the orders made under subsection 15.1(1) and subsections 15.2(1) and (2).

(2) The Minister shall include in the report, for the fiscal year covered by the report, the following information:

(a) the number of orders made and the nature of the orders;

(b) the number of orders that were revoked;

(b.1) the number of times during the previous fiscal year that, under subsection 15.2(6), an order prevailed over a decision of the Commission made under this Act;

(c) the number of applications made to the Federal Court seeking to prohibit disclosure of an order, and the number of applications granted;

(d) the number of telecommunications service providers affected by an order;

(e) description of compliance of telecommunications service providers that partially complied with an order;

(f) description of compliance of telecommunications service providers that fully complied with an order; and

(g) an explanation of the necessity, proportionality, reasonableness and utility of the orders.

(3) The report shall state the number of times that an order prevailed over a decision of the Commission made under this Act during previous fiscal year.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by adding after line 31 on page 4 the following:

“15.21 The Minister must, within 90 days after an order that includes a provision prohibiting the disclosure of its existence, or some or all of its contents, is made under section 15.1 or 15.2, notify the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency of the making of the order.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by adding after line 37 on page 5 the following:

“(d) personal information and de-identified information.

(1.1) The following definitions apply in paragraph (1)(d).

de-identify means to modify personal information so that an individual cannot be directly identified from it, though a risk of the individual being identified remains. (dépersonnaliser)

personal information has the same meaning as in section 3 of the Privacy Act. (renseignements personnels)”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by adding after line 34 on page 6 the following:

“(2) Any confidential information that is collected under subsection (1) must be treated as confidential.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by adding after line 29 on page 7 the following:

“15.71 For greater certainty, nothing in sections 15.1, 15. 2 and 15.4 to 15.7 affects the provisions of the Privacy Act.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 2, be amended by adding after line 40 on page 7 the following:

“15.81 (1) The Minister must, within three months after the end of each fiscal year, prepare a report respecting any orders referred to in sections 15.1 and 15.2 that were made during that fiscal year and must cause the report to be laid before each House of Parliament within the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after the report is completed.

(2) The report must include the number of orders that were made in that fiscal year.

(3) The report must also state the number of times that an order prevailed over a decision of the Commission made under this Act during the previous fiscal year.”

Clause 10

Clause 10 is deleted.

Clause 13

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by replacing line 10 on page 18 with the following:

“tems in the federally regulated sector”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by

(a) replacing line 22 on page 18 with the following:

“ber systems of the federally regulated sector”

(b) replacing line 28 on page 18 with the following:

“the federally regulated sector, to help protect”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by replacing line 24 on page 18 with the following:

“ter collaboration across Canada, with the provinces and territories and around the”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by

(a) replacing line 26 on page 18 with the following:

“Whereas the Government of Canada is commit-”

(b) adding after line 30 on page 18 the following:

“And whereas the Government of Canada acknowledges the necessity to protect the privacy of Canadians with respect to their personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act;”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by

(a) replacing line 7 on page 23 with the following:

“ber systems and include in the program steps”

(b) replacing line 3 on page 24 with the following:

“the steps that are included in the program un-”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by replacing line 20 on page 24 with the following:

“14 (1) A designated operator must, within a period prescribed by the regulations, notify”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by replacing lines 6 to 8 on page 25 with the following:

“graph 9(1)(a), the designated operator must mitigate those risks.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by replacing line 19 on page 25 with the following:

“17 A designated operator must, within a period prescribed by the regulations, not to exceed 72 hours, report a cy-”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by replacing line 30 on page 25 with the following:

“(b) give a copy of the report to the appro‐”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by

(a) replacing line 11 on page 26 with the following:

“of protecting a critical cyber system, if the Governor in Council believes on reasonable grounds that it is necessary to make the order for that purpose.”

(b) adding after line 13 on page 26 the following:

“(2.1) Before making an order under subsection (1), the Governor in Council must consider

(a) its operational impacts on affected designated operators;

(b) its impact on public safety of Canadians;

(c) its financial impacts on affected designated operators;

(d) its impact on the delivery of vital services and vital systems to consumers; and

(e) any other factor that the Governor in Council considers to be relevant.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by adding after line 15 on page 26 the following:

“(5) The Minister must, within 90 days after an order is made under subsection (1), notify the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency of the making of the order.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by adding after line 15 on page 26 the following:

“(6) For greater certainty, despite subsection (1), the Governor in Council is not permitted to order any designated operator or class of operators to intercept a private communication or a radio-based telephone communication, as those terms are defined in section 183 of the Criminal Code.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by adding after line 28 on page 27 the following:

“(2) Any confidential information, within the meaning of this Act or any other Act of Parliament that applies to or is administered by a person or entity referred to in subsection (1), that is collected or disclosed under that subsection must be treated as confidential.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by adding after line 28 on page 27 the following:

“(2) Any information collected or obtained under subsection (1) must be retained only for as long as is necessary to make, amend or revoke an order under section 20, or to verify compliance or prevent non-compliance with such an order.

(3) A designated operator, or class of operators, to which the information relates must be informed of the retention period.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by

(a) replacing lines 14 and 15 on page 28 with the following:

“(d) the disclosure is necessary for the protection of vital services, vital systems or criti-”

(b) adding after line 24 on page 28 the following:

“(3) Any confidential information that is disclosed or allowed to be accessed under subsection (1) must be treated as confidential.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by

(a) replacing line 16 on page 29 with the following:

“28 (1) If it is necessary for the protection of vital services, vital systems or critical cyber systems, the appropriate”

(b) replacing line 22 on page 29 with the following:

“the regulations. However, if for the same reason the Minister or the responsi-”

(c) adding after line 25 on page 29 the following:

“(2) Any confidential information, within the meaning of this Act or any other Act of Parliament that applies to or is administered by the appropriate regulator, that is provided under subsection (1) must be treated as confidential.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by

(a) replacing line 17 on page 80 with the following:

“(c) respecting the form, manner and period for reporting any”

(b) adding after line 19 on page 80 the following:

“(c.1) respecting the period within which a notification referred to under subsection 14(1) is to be provided;”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by adding after line 34 on page 80 the following:

“(2) In making regulations under subsection (1), the Governor in Council may seek to ensure consistency with existing regulatory regimes, such as those established by provincial regulatory agencies.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by replacing, in the French version, lines 38 and 39 on page 81 with the following:

“loi, que l’exploitant désigné ait été ou non poursuivi ou déclaré coupable de l’infraction.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by replacing lines 11 and 12 on page 82 with the following:

“spect of a contravention of section 26 or paragraph 87(a) or (b) — if they establish that they”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by adding after line 13 on page 84 the following:

“(2) The report must include, for the fiscal year covered by the report, the following information in relation to orders made under subsection 20(1):

(a) the number of orders made under subsection 20(1) and the nature of the directions set out in those orders;

(b) the number of directions revoked under subsection 20(2);

(c) the number of designated operators that were subject to a direction;

(e) description of compliance of designated operators that partially complied with a direction;

(f) description of compliance of designated operators that fully complied with a direction; and

(g) an explanation of the necessity, proportionality, reasonableness and utility of the directions.”

That Bill C-26, in Clause 13, be amended by adding after line 13 on page 84 the following:

“(2) The report must contain information on, among other things,

(a) the number of directions issued under subsection 20(1) in the immediately preceding fiscal year;

(b) the number of designated operators that were issued directions under subsection 20(1) in the immediately preceding fiscal year; and

(c) any other information relating to the immediately preceding fiscal year that the Minister considers relevant, if that information is not likely to be about an identifiable designated operator or other person.”

Your committee has ordered a reprint of Bill C-26, as amended, as a working copy for the use of the House of Commons at the report stage.
A copy of the relevant Minutes of Proceedings (Meetings Nos. 90 to 95, 99 and 101) is tabled.