Canada's Telecommunications Act now includes sweeping new powers to secure telecom networks against threats

Plain-language summary · AI-assisted · not legal advice

The Telecommunications Act has been significantly expanded to give the federal Cabinet and the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry broad new authority to issue orders protecting Canada's telecom networks from threats such as interference, manipulation, disruption, or degradation. Cabinet can order telecom providers to ban or remove products and services from specified vendors; the Minister can impose a wide range of additional security requirements including mandatory security plans, vulnerability assessments, backup systems, and service suspensions. Telecom service providers that contravene these orders face administrative monetary penalties up to $10 million per violation (higher for repeat violations) and can also face criminal prosecution with fines at the court's discretion and up to two years less a day in prison for individuals. The government is not required to compensate providers for financial losses caused by these orders, and orders may be kept confidential in certain circumstances, with oversight provided through parliamentary reporting and notification to national security review bodies. Securing the Canadian telecom system has also been added as an explicit policy objective of the Act, and the CRTC must now take security orders and regulations into account when exercising its powers.

Who this affects: telecommunications service providers · telecom equipment and service vendors · telecom network operators · corporate officers and directors of telecom companies · national security review bodies