Canadian law & rules

• October 2019The RCMP purchased two Clearview AI licences, and members also used free trial accounts. [OPC, 2021]
• 21 February 2020The OPC and the privacy authorities of Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia opened a joint investigation. [OPC, 2021]
• February 2021The four authorities found Clearview contravened PIPEDA and provincial privacy law. [Joint news release, Feb 2021] [Joint findings, 2021]
• June 2021The OPC found the RCMP contravened the Privacy Act. [OPC news release, June 2021]
• December 2021CBC reported Toronto officers used Clearview in 84 investigations over about three and a half months before the chief ordered them to stop. [CBC News]
• May 2022Final joint guidance for police on facial recognition was published. [Joint guidance, May 2022]

The OPC explained that a government institution cannot collect personal information from a third party that collected it unlawfully. It also said the RCMP first erroneously told the OPC it was not using Clearview AI, and did not satisfactorily account for most of its searches. [OPC, 2021]

"police should not use FRT just because it is thought to be 'useful' for law enforcement in general. Police should have a specific reason to use the technology and it should be based on evidence."

Headings include lawful authority, the Charter, necessity and proportionality, privacy impact assessments, monitoring and re-assessment, accuracy, accountability, procurement, training, data minimization, retention, testing, data security, and transparency. [Joint guidance, May 2022]

"This guidance should not be read as justifying, endorsing or approving the use of FR by police agencies."

The principles are legality, fairness, reliability, justifiability, personal accountability, organizational accountability, transparency, privacy and meaningful engagement. The Board says reviews should be public to the greatest degree possible. [TPSB policy] The Ontario Human Rights Commission noted the service's AI inventory identified one facial recognition technology as "high risk". [OHRC on TPSB policy]

The principles are grouped under fairness; data ethics; governance, impartiality and auditability; rights and self-determination; and control, security and reliability, and align with the CACP and CENTRIC programme C-AIPAS. [CACP principles (FR), July 2026] [CACP Data & AI Summit, Oct 2026]

The text we read is the French version, dated 20 July 2026. Our unofficial translation of its opening position: for Canadian police, the strategic question is no longer whether AI will be used, but whether its use will be structured to preserve public trust and the rule of law. [CACP principles (FR), July 2026]

Status: draft at the time of checking. We have not found an English copy.

Citizen Lab (2020) argues algorithmic policing can engage privacy, expression, equality, liberty and due process. [Citizen Lab, 2020] The Canadian Human Rights Commission (2022) said police use of facial recognition should be prohibited through a moratorium until a new legal and policy framework is in place. [CHRC, 2022]

As reported by The Canadian Press in April 2025, the federal Artificial Intelligence and Data Act died when Parliament was prorogued on 6 January 2025, and the CCLA noted it applied only to the private sector. Ontario was the first province to adopt legislation about government agencies using AI, and the Law Commission of Ontario said the bill leaves unclear how far it covers police. [Blue Line / Canadian Press, April 2025] We have not checked later developments; see the corrections policy.

For comparison, all members of the UK National Police Chiefs' Council endorsed a Covenant for Using AI in Policing on 28 September 2023. [NPCC AI Covenant]