Canada: Submission to UN Human Rights Committee
In February 2026, the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD), in collaboration with OpenMedia, made a submission to the UN Human Rights Committee as part of its March 2026 review of Canada’s progress on implementing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The submission focuses on Canada’s performance in the areas of freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and the right to information.
CLD’s submission summarises key developments and makes specific recommendations for Canada. A key focus is disproportionate restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly in proposed Bill C-9, as well as other freedom of assembly concerns at the provincial and municipal levels. The submission also highlights the need for Canada to adopt progressive rules on the regulation of digital rights and to repeal its criminal defamation provisions, as well as the imperative for all provinces and territories to adopt laws to address strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs). The last and longest part of the submission is devoted to an issue of longtime concern for CLD, Canada’s unacceptably weak guarantees of the right to information.
Some of the key recommendations are as follows:
- Bill C-9 should be substantially revised to ensure that it does not impose illegitimate restrictions on freedom of expression and that it does not remove the requirement to obtain the consent of the Attorney General for hate speech prosecutions.
- Canadian provinces and municipalities should refrain from imposing overbroad restrictions on freedom of assembly, in both law and practice.
- Legislation which is consistent with international standards should be introduced to regulate artificial intelligence and online harms.
- Following a thorough review of the federal Access to Information Act by an independent panel, the government should amend the Act to bring it into line with international standards and best practices, and all provinces and territories should do the same for their right to information legislation.
The full submission is available here.
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