WWeekly digest · 2026-W29
What changed in Canadian law, July 13, 2026 to July 19, 2026
40 changes took effect this week across 10 sectors. Every summary links the exact diff and the official source.
Courts & Justice (9)
Canada's Victims Bill of Rights expanded with new rights to respect, timely justice, and proactive information
The Canadian Victims Bill of Rights has been significantly amended to add and strengthen victims' entitlements across several areas. Two new standalone rights are created: a right to be treated with respect, courtesy,…
Federal corrections law updated with expanded information-sharing rules and stronger victim rights
The Corrections and Conditional Release Act has been significantly amended in two main areas. First, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) now has expanded, codified authority to share offender information — includ…
Criminal Records Act updated to expand description of one sexual offence involving minors
The description of the offence listed in the Criminal Records Act's Schedule 1 under section 152 of the Criminal Code has been expanded. It now reads 'invitation to a person under 16 to sexual touching or exposure,' w…
Firearms licence eligibility now bars applicants suspected of domestic violence or stalking, and surrender on revocation becomes mandatory
The Act has been updated in three notable ways. First, the list of reasons a person cannot hold a firearms licence has expanded: beyond existing rules about protection orders and domestic violence convictions, a chief…
Canada's mutual legal assistance rules now cover supranational bodies like the European Public Prosecutor's Office
The Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act has been expanded so that Canada can provide legal assistance not only to foreign states and international criminal courts or tribunals, but also to supranational bo…
Canada's youth criminal justice law updated: broader 'violent offence' definition, new victim rights, and firearm-related changes
Parliament has made several substantive changes to the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The definition of 'violent offence' now explicitly includes offences involving the use or trafficking of a firearm, and the wording sh…
Ontario Court of Appeal bench size increased by one judge
The regulation setting the number of Court of Appeal judges has been updated to raise the count of judges serving in addition to the Chief Justice and Associate Chief Justice from 21 to 22. This means the Court of App…
Canada enacts new Bail and Sentencing Reform Act amending Criminal Code, Youth Criminal Justice Act and National Defence Act
A new federal Act has been enacted that amends three existing statutes — the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act, and the National Defence Act — across areas of bail, sentencing, and related procedures. Most…
BC adds new ticket and notice forms for offence and federal contravention proceedings, then phases out older forms
British Columbia is updating the standardized forms used for provincial offence tickets and federal contravention notices in two stages. In the first stage, four new forms (V, W, X, Y) are added to the Offence Act For…
Health Care (3)
Three new synthetic opioid-related substances added to Canada's controlled substances watch list
The amendment formally incorporates three substances into Schedule V of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act for a one-year period: two synthetic opioids — Spirobrorphine and Spirochlorphine — are added as controll…
Health Canada can now approve drugs by relying on trusted foreign regulators' reviews instead of repeating the full examination
A new federal order lets drug manufacturers ask Health Canada to treat certain parts of its review as already completed, based on a decision or review document from an approved foreign regulator. This applies to new d…
Several health-care and social-services employers added to or removed from BC public-sector employer lists
Two schedules of designated public-sector employers under BC's Public Sector Employers Act have been updated. In the health-care sector, Beacon Community Services Society, Elizabeth Bagshaw Society, and Morgan Place H…
Transportation (4)
Completion deadlines for remedial driving programs now apply one suspension earlier
The timeframes for completing a remedial measures conduct review program before facing a licence suspension have been reassigned to earlier suspension counts. The 120-day deadline, previously tied to a second suspensi…
Electronic travel authorization now required for some vessel arrivals; cruise ship passengers and St. Pierre travellers get new exemptions
The regulations have been updated in several ways affecting how travellers and transporters interact with Canada's border rules. Foreign nationals who are visa-exempt and arriving by vessel directly from St. Pierre an…
A new red light camera model (G3red) is approved for use in Ontario, and four more municipalities are added to the evidence key
Ontario has approved a second type of red light camera system — the G3red manufactured by Global Traffic Group Ltd. — alongside the existing TraffiStar models. Photographs taken by the G3red follow the same two-row, e…
Speed limit zone boundaries updated on several Ontario highways including Hwy 6, 11, 17, 101, and 518
The geographic descriptions of reduced-speed zones on a number of Ontario King's Highways have been revised. On Highway 6 in Manitoulin District, zone boundaries have been redrawn to reference updated road names and m…
Energy & Environment (10)
Selected Crown Forest Sustainability Act amendments now legally in force
Two specific provisions of the Building a More Competitive Economy Act, 2025 — Schedule 2, sections 4 and 6(2) — have been proclaimed into force by Order in Council. Proclamation means these amendments to the Crown Fo…
Sections 26.1 to 28 of the Crown Forests regulation (approved manuals) are now formally revoked
Sections 26.1 through 28 of Ontario's general Crown forest regulation, which previously set out the approved Forest Management Planning Manual, Forest Information Manual, Forest Operations and Silviculture Manual, and…
Ministerial approval requirement for annual timber harvesting removed from Crown forest licences
The requirement that forest resource licence holders obtain written ministerial approval before beginning harvesting each year has been repealed. Previously, licence holders also risked having that approval withheld i…
Ontario formally approves four forestry manuals governing how Crown forest management plans must be prepared and operated
A new regulation approves four Ministry-prepared manuals that set the rules for Crown forest management in Ontario: the Forest Management Planning Manual (March 2024, with a June 2026 Addendum), the Forest Information…
Four key forestry manuals will be revoked from the regulation in mid-2026
The regulation currently approves four Ministry-prepared manuals — the Forest Management Planning Manual, the Forest Information Manual, the Forest Operations and Silviculture Manual, and the Scaling Manual — as the b…
Two wildlife management areas in Cariboo District updated: Cranberry Marsh/Starratt redescribed, Meteor Lake Wetland added
The Wildlife Management Areas Regulation has been amended in two ways. First, the legal boundary description for the Cranberry Marsh/Starratt Wildlife Management Area in Cariboo District has been replaced with a new d…
New designated area created over Crown land in K'ih tsaaʔdze region under the Forest Act
A specific parcel of Crown land in British Columbia has been formally designated as the K'ih tsaaʔdze Designated Area No. 1 under section 169 of the Forest Act. The designation applies until June 30, 2030. The boundar…
BC Natural Gas Tax Credit rules updated: new LNG Canada feedstock inlets designated and volume calculation language clarified
The Natural Gas Tax Credit Regulation has been amended in three ways. First, two meter stations — the Wilde Lake Compressor Station and the Willow Valley Interconnect — are formally designated as feedstock pipeline in…
Nass Valley Transmission Line added to B.C.'s streamlined renewable energy permitting regime
The Renewable Energy Projects (Streamlined Permitting) Regulation has been amended to formally include the Nass Valley Transmission Line project — a new electric transmission line connecting the proposed Ksi Lisims LN…
Independent power producers selling electricity to FortisBC must be exempted from utility regulation by the BC Utilities Commission
A new provincial direction requires the BC Utilities Commission to exempt independent power producers (IPPs) from most utility regulatory requirements under Part 3 of the Utilities Commission Act. The exemption applie…
Municipal & Land Use (2)
Storm-water fee exemption for farm and managed-forest properties is now in force
A new provision has been added to the regulation confirming that the City of Toronto and its local boards cannot impose storm-water fees or charges on portions of properties classified as farm land or managed forests.…
Municipalities barred from charging storm-water fees on farm and managed-forest properties
A new restriction has been added preventing municipalities and local boards from imposing storm-water management fees or charges on portions of a property classified as farmland or managed forest under the Assessment…
Financial Services & Insurance (2)
CDIC differential-premium by-law updated: a previously pending amendment is now in force
An amendment to the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation Differential Premiums By-law that was previously listed as 'not yet in force' has now been brought into effect. The change narrows the reference used when assig…
Designated accommodation area tax expiry extended by five years for one listed area
The expiry date for the designated accommodation area tax applying to item 21 in Schedule 2 of the Designated Accommodation Area Tax Regulation has been pushed back five years. The area in question will now remain sub…
Government Operations (3)
ICCRC references removed from Canada's Citizenship Regulations, No. 2
Three provisions that referenced the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC) have been formally repealed from the Citizenship Regulations, No. 2. These include the definition of ICCRC, the rule de…
College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Regulations updated with a document revision marker
The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Regulations have been updated with a revised internal document identifier, changing a reference number from one value to another within the regulation's header me…
Designated immigration-consultant body no longer required to file annual governance reports with the Minister
A detailed section requiring any body designated to oversee immigration consultants to submit annual governance and financial documents to the federal Minister — including board minutes, conflict-of-interest codes, fe…
Construction & Real Estate (2)
Tower crane and mobile crane operators added as certified skilled trades in B.C.
B.C. has amended its Skilled Trades BC Regulation to designate two additional trades — tower crane operator and mobile crane operator — as skilled trades certification trades. Once this designation takes effect, worke…
Tower crane and mobile crane operators added as skilled trades certification trades in B.C.
This amendment to the Minister's Skilled Trades BC Regulation adds two new skilled trades to the certification framework: tower crane operator and mobile crane operator. The scope of work for tower crane operators cov…
Tax & Revenue (4)
New PST exemption for business purchases shipped out of BC immediately after purchase
Businesses that buy tangible personal property at a BC sale point, use it only for storage while in the province, and then ship it out of BC for delivery elsewhere are now exempt from BC provincial sales tax on that p…
BC removes PST exemptions for dry-cleaning, toll-free numbers, residential phone, basic cable TV, and repair services on children's/used clothing
Several existing PST exemptions are being removed in two stages. Starting in the first stage, the PST exemption no longer applies to: repair and alteration services performed on children's clothing, footwear, and used…
BC PST extended to accounting, architectural, engineering, non-residential real estate and security services — with new exemptions
British Columbia's Provincial Sales Tax will now apply to five additional service categories: accounting, architectural, engineering, non-residential real estate (commercial), and security services. Providers of these…
B.C. Home Owner Grant rules updated: veterans supplement formula revised and outdated cross-references removed
The Home Owner Grant Regulation has been amended in three areas. First, the definition of 'additional grant' is narrowed by removing a reference to a specific grant section, tightening which grants qualify. Second, cr…