Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP (LexBlog Canada)

On October 17, 2023, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada announced the release of two companion documents that provide further guidance on protecting the privacy of young people.

In recent months, members of Congress have introduced a wide variety of bills seeking to create a new federal regulatory regime for digital assets. NASAA, which is an umbrella organization for state and provincial securities regulators in the US, Canada and Mexico, recently submitted a letter to Congress critical of one such bill that lays out a series of arguments more broadly against federal...

On June 16, 2022, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Justice Minister David Lametti introduced the Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2022, a bill that would overhaul Canada’s existing legal framework for personal information protection in the private sector.

On June 10, 2022, CIPL published a white paper entitled “Local Law Assessments and Online Services – Refining the Approach to Beneficial and Privacy-Protective Cross-Border Data Flows A: Case Study from British Columbia.”

On September 22, 2021, the Canadian province of Quebec enacted a new privacy law, which will impose obligations beyond what is currently required under Canada’s federal privacy law. Most of the new law’s requirements will take effect in September 2023, but some will take effect earlier (in 2022) or later (2024). The law will apply...

The Northern District of New York recently awarded summary judgment to insurer Affiliated Factory Mutual Insurance Co. against Mohawk Gaming Enterprises, a casino and resort operated by the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe located on the border of New York and Canada. Mohawk Gaming sued AFM seeking recovery of business income losses due to the COVID-19...

In the past week, Canadian securities regulators approved the offering of the first two Canadian Bitcoin ETFs. By holding Bitcoin, the Canadian funds intend to provide investors with access to the US dollar and Canadian dollar price of Bitcoin through an ETF structure. The ETF units have been conditionally approved for listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Recently, a group of central bankers issued a report entitled “Central Bank Digital Currencies: Foundational Principles and Core Features.” Released on October 9, 2020, the report lays out common foundational principles and core features of a central bank digital currency, or CBDC.

We last wrote about international travel during COVID-19 in March, with a general overview and a separate article about travel in North America.  Since then, many changes have occurred (for example, those traveling to Canada and the United Kingdom must now quarantine for 14 days after arrival), while other elements of travel have remained the...

On March 12, 2020, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP submitted formal comments to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada in response to its proposals for ensuring appropriate regulation of artificial intelligence.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently signaled his intent to overhaul data privacy within Canada by sending a Mandate Letter to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry that contained a number of mandates with respect to data privacy.

While many of the most common Canadian business immigration options have close US equivalents, there are some options that are uniquely Canadian. This is intended as informational only. If you have a question about a particular scenario, contact one of our immigration attorneys for guidance. Francophone Mobility – Mobilité Francophone To “promote Francophone immigration in...

The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remains in power following last week’s Canadian federal elections. Despite losing a clear majority, Trudeau’s Liberals are still the largest party in Parliament with enough seats to form a minority government. With what is largely a continuation of the status quo, immigration priorities are likely to remain unchanged,...

On September 23, 2019, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada announced that it completed its consultation on transfers for processing and that the OPC's current guidelines for processing personal data across borders—under which consent for transfers to data processors is not required—remain unchanged.

On August 5, 2019, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP responded to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s (“OPC”) reframed consultation on transfers for processing. The reframed consultation replaced a previously suspended OPC consultation dealing with the same topic to which CIPL had also responded. The reframed...

On May 24, 2019, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada suspended its public consultation on transborder data flows following the announcement of the Digital Charter by the Canadian government. This blog entry provides an overview the developments.

State and provincial securities regulators across the US and Canada have been actively policing the marketplace for ICOs and security token offerings, supplementing efforts at the federal level undertaken by the SEC. Colorado and North Dakota are among the latest states to announce enforcement actions in the crypto space.

On October 29, 2018, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada released final guidance regarding how businesses may satisfy the reporting and record-keeping obligations under Canada’s new data breach reporting law.

As reported in BNA Privacy Law Watch, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is seeking public comment on recently released guidance intended to assist organizations with understanding their obligations under the federal breach notification mandate, which will take effect in Canada on November 1, 2018.

Recently, Canadian investment firm First Block Capital Inc. reported that FBC Bitcoin Trust, which the firm bills as the “first and only open-ended bitcoin fund approved by Canadian regulators,” has achieved mutual fund trust status under Canada’s Federal Income Tax Act.

The Canadian government recently published a cabinet order stating that the effective date for breach notification provisions in the Digital Privacy Act would be November 1, 2018.

Recently, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada issued its 2017 Global Privacy Enforcement Network Sweep results, which focused on certain privacy practices of online educational tools and services targeted at classrooms. The OPC examined the privacy practices of two dozen educational websites and apps used by K-12 students.

Earlier this month, Canada’s transport minister announced that a drone had collided with a commercial aircraft, the first confirmed collision of its kind in North America. This recent incident, which many commentators believed was inevitable given the proliferation of consumer and commercial drones, highlights the potential risks associated with drone operations.

About to turn 100, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (MBTA) is among the oldest wildlife (or any environmental) laws. Yet major questions persist whether the Act applies to the unintended “take” of birds, and how to avoid criminal liability under the Act for many common and beneficial commercial activities.

On December 14, 2016, the FTC announced that the operators of the AshleyMadison.com website have settled with the FTC and a coalition of state regulators over charges that the companies deceived consumers and failed to protect users’ personal information.

On September 8, 2016, Advocate General Paolo Mengozzi of the Court of Justice of the European Union issued his Opinion on the compatibility of the draft agreement between Canada and the EU on the transfer of passenger name record data with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

Recently, the Privacy and Big Data Institute at Ryerson University in Canada announced that it is offering a Privacy by Design Certification.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada released a research report that explores the interconnected relationship among cybersecurity, privacy and data protection. We provide highlights of the research report in this blog entry.

On December 2-4, 2014, Asia Pacific Privacy Authority members and invited observers and guest speakers from government, the private sector, academia and civil society met in Vancouver, Canada, to discuss privacy laws and policy issues. This blog entry provides highlights from this meeting.

On October 30, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada extended the deadline for the province of Alberta to amend its Personal Information Protection Act. The Alberta legislature now has until May 2015 to determine how to make the legislation constitutionally compliant.