Bill C-2 FAQ: Explaining Canada’s Dangerous New Surveillance Law

Bill C-2, the so-called “Strong Borders Act,” grants sweeping new surveillance powers to police and spy agencies. OpenMedia’s FAQ breaks down what’s really going on, and how it could impact the digital lives of everyone in Canada.

Bill C-2 is the most alarming legislation we’ve seen for rights in Canada since Harper’s infamous Bill C-51. Framed as a plan to “secure the border,” Bill C-2 does far more than that; it sacrifices real Canadian privacy and values for a fake, manufactured border crisis. With no public consultation but plenty of government spin, it’s no wonder people across the country are asking: What is this bill really about? What does it mean for me? And how can we stop it?

Below, we break down the basics of Bill C-2, what’s at stake for your rights and freedoms, why over 300 groups are opposing the bill, and how you can take action to help stop it.

Here’s what we cover:

Understanding the Basics

1. What is Bill C-2?
2. What does the government say it’s trying to do with Bill C-2?
3. What’s really going on with Bill C-2?

What's at Stake

4. What does Bill C-2 mean for your privacy?
5. Who could be affected by Bill C-2?
6. Does Bill C-2 expand surveillance powers beyond Canada?
7. Are privacy concerns the only problems with Bill C-2?

Public Response

8. Why does Bill C-2 spark so much debate and controversy?
9. Isn’t Canadian security important – why would we want to stop Bill C-2?
10. Who’s opposing Bill C-2?
11. What political parties support or oppose the bill?

Taking Action

12. What can I do to stop Bill C-2?
13. How do I talk to others about Bill C-2?

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Understanding the Basics

1. What is Bill C-2?

Bill C-2, the so-called "Strong Borders Act”, is the first major piece of legislation tabled in the House of Commons since Mark Carney became Prime Minister of Canada in June 2025. Introduced by the federal government, the 140-page bill rolls together significant changes in a single bill to undermine the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and amend the Criminal Code, along with major overhauls to Canada’s immigration and refugee system. All of it is packaged as an effort to “secure” the Canada-U.S. border.

2. What does the government say it’s trying to do with Bill C-2?

On paper, Bill C-2 claims to “keep Canadians safe” by giving law enforcement the “right tools” to strengthen border security to fight transnational organized crime, stop the flow of illegal fentanyl to tackle the overdose crisis, and crack down on money laundering.

But Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree has been a lot more direct when asked about the Bill’s purpose, saying: “There were a number of elements in the bill that have been irritants for the U.S., so we are addressing some of those issues.” 

3. What’s really going on with Bill C-2?

If you take Minister Anandasangaree at his word, Bill C-2 is designed to address matters the U.S. considers “irritants”. In reality, Bill C-2 is “a multi-pronged assault on the basic human rights and freedoms Canada holds dear.” It throws open the floodgates to U.S. surveillance, and establishes a Big Brother-style surveillance power over every electronic service and device in our country that does not make Canada more safe. 

It’s a surrender of fundamental Canadian rights and values to our neighbour to the south for no gain, and one we should not and will not accept.

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What's at Stake

4. What does Bill C-2 mean for your privacy?

A systematic erosion of your right to live a private life. Through 140 pages and 16 sections, Bill C-2 introduces many changes that make it easier for spies and law enforcement to demand your sensitive data with much less or no oversight from our courts. 

Part 14 of Bill C-2 creates a no warrant required power for law enforcement to anyone who provides a service in Canada tell them whether you have an account with them, how long you’ve had it for, and who else they know you have an account with. That covers far more than just Internet service providers (ISPs) and online platforms; car rental companies, hotels, financial institutions, psychologists, and even hospitals or clinics are all subject to these demands! 

Bill C-2 also drops the threshold for a government agent to demand full access to your data a service holds from ‘reason to believe’ this information would help them investigate a crime– the current standard – to mere 'reason to suspect'. Think about the gap between the # of things you know are true about the world, and your suspicions of what could be true; it's a far broader amd much more subjective justification for invading your privacy that will be extremely difficult for courts to disprove.

Part 15 of Bill C-2 goes even further, fundamentally compromising your right to private electronic communications in Canada. In principle, the government is forbidden from ordering companies to break encryption and grant backdoor access to your messages. However, C-2 gives the government the right to decide what all the terms mean, including basic definitions like “encryption” and “systemic vulnerability”. Eminent law professor Robert Diab calls this an attempt to “have one’s cake and eat it too”, and “tantamount to not ruling out a back door at all”, as slippery future definitions may easily allow the government to break encryption in practice while paying it lip service in the law. And all of this can be done behind an astonishing veil of secrecy, in which the government can issue permanent secret orders to any organization they choose to target to fail to fix or report huge security holes they discover in their own systems. And if they contest the government’s orders? The government can order them to keep their entire legal fight for our privacy permanently secret too!

Put together, Bill C-2 sets the stage for vast fishing operations through our private data, with officers concocting vague connections to possible crimes to request reams of information about any of us, or even break our private communications permanently and sit in on all our private conversations.

5. Who could be affected by Bill C-2?

In short: everyone.

Bill C-2 threatens the privacy of every person in Canada by granting sweeping new powers to police and intelligence agencies to access and share our personal data — even without evidence of any wrongdoing.

Its changes to poses an even greater risk to vulnerable communities, including refugees, asylum seekers, international students, and temporary residents, who could face surveillance, denial of entry, or deportation without due process. For women fleeing violence, LGBTQ+ individuals, and racialized groups, the consequences could be especially severe. Law enforcement officers have a history of misusing surveillance powers to track people in their lives. Many foreign states would love to use the reciprocal information sharing powers Bill C-2 lays groundwork for to track, harass, and threaten dissidents who fled their grip for Canada, a place they believed to be safe.

6. Does Bill C-2 expand surveillance powers beyond Canada?

Yes. Bill C-2 lays the groundwork for sharing your private data to U.S. authorities, including the NSA, FBI, and ICE, whether you’ve done anything wrong or not. That’s because C-2 makes many of the changes necessary for Canada to ratify a CLOUD ACT agreement with the U.S., which would give U.S. authorities broad power to demand access to your data right here in Canada.

Even more alarming, it paves the way for Canada’s endorsement of a dangerously expanded UN Cybercrime Convention. Department of Justice officials have acknowledged Bill C-2's language is intended to harmonize with this much criticized, Russia-backed expansion of reprocal data requests between law enforcement in signatory countries. That makes Bill C-2 a first step to enabling authoritarian governments to reach across our border and into Canadians’ digital lives.

Whether you buy it’s about pleasing Trump or not, the impact is the same: mass data sharing, more detention, less accountability, weaker rights.

7. Are privacy concerns the only problems with Bill C-2?

No. While privacy issues are at the core of OpenMedia’s mandate concerns with Bill C-2, other civil society organizations and members of our community are raising the alarm about the impact of this legislation on Canada’s obligations to hear asylum cases fairly under international human rights law, and its fundamental compatibility with our history as an open and welcoming society.

We believe the severe privacy problems of Bill C-2 are disqualifying in themselves; but encourage our community and our leaders to hear the concerns of other organizations around this bill.

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Public Response

8. Why does Bill C-2 spark so much debate and controversy?

Simple answer: Because the bill is anti-rights, anti-privacy, and anti-Canadian to a degree OpenMedia has never seen.

Bill C-2 opens the door to virtually limitless warrantless demands for your personal information. That’s not just a massive attack on our privacy, refugee, and migrant rights. It swings the door wide open for abuse of power in ways that are likely unconstitutional.

Its extensive changes to Canada’s immigration and refugee system hands the government mass deportation powers. That puts the safety of vulnerable populations and marginalized groups at risk, especially women fleeing violence, LGBTQ+ individuals, and racialized communities seeking refuge in Canada.

On top of that, Bill C-2 breaks Canada's obligations under international human rights law by denying refugees and migrants the fair hearing they’re entitled to for their asylum claims. That goes against and is a direct betrayal of the humanitarian values that Canadians believe in.

At its core, Bill C-2 trades away your security and your rights, putting our fundamental privacy and freedom at serious risk.

Worrying about C-2 isn’t a right-wing or a left-wing thing; saying no to Bill C-2 should be a Canadian thing.

9. Isn’t Canadian security important – why would we want to stop Bill C-2? 

Absolutely! Canadian security is important. And that’s exactly why we need to stop Bill C-2.

To understand how little Bill C-2 is about security, let’s talk about three things.

First, there is no border crisis that justifies Bill C-2’s draconian measures. Canada is simply not a meaningful source of fentanyl to the U.S.; repeated investigations have found less than 1% of the Fentanyl found in the US comes from our border with them.

Second, Bill C-2 is principally about signalling Canadian compliance on bended knee; it’s not really about improving law enforcement, securing our borders, or giving Canadians more control. As the minister in charge said himself, it’s about removing “irritants” to the US. In a bid to win trade concessions from the U.S., Prime Minister Carney has put our rights and values on the bargaining table. We’ve already seen Carney give away Canada’s Digital Services Tax for no benefit whatsoever; with Bill C-2, appeasement has to stop.

Third, Bill C-2 does radically reshape Canadian law to accommodate and in some ways resemble the U.S. From an extraordinarily broad right to warrantless information demands to any service in the country, to functionally breaking encryption, C-2 has no precedent for how deeply it undermines Canadian privacy; like a Canadian Patriot Act, with no justifying 9/11. The bill’s harsh restrictions on asylum claims and the expanded ability to revoke temporary visas will put international students, temporary residents, and asylum seekers at greater risk of exploitation and human trafficking, and contravenes Canada’s long values-based tradition of being amongst the world’s most welcoming societies. And facilitating sharing our private data with the U.S. and other authoritarian states will not make us safer; it opens us up to a new era of state-backed surveillance and abuse.

Bill C-2 simply isn’t about safety; it’s a surrender of our rights, our values, and our sovereignty.

10. Who’s opposing Bill C-2?

Bill C-2 is sparking outrage across Canada, across provinces, parties and all our other divides.

From privacy experts to refugee rights advocates to public health defenders, 300+ organizations across Canada have already urged the federal government to withdraw Bill C-2 entirely, calling out on our shared concerns about how it would open the door to unprecedented surveillance and cross-border data sharing.

But the Carney government has made Bill C-2 a central pillar of their plan to appease President Trump, and without far more public opposition this fall, he may force it through a minority Parliament and pass the Bill without any of its fundamental problems addressed.

11. What political parties support or oppose the bill?

The governing Liberal party introduced Bill C‑2 and are naturally backing it, though we’ve learned that there are internal signs of unease, and many Liberal voters and backbenchers aren’t happy with the bill. It’s possible that Liberal MPs will remain attentive to proposed amendments and can add internal pressure to improve it, though no firm opposition is yet confirmed.

The Conservatives have signaled that there were elements in the bill the Conservatives could support, but haven’t publicly endorsed the bill without critique. Conservatives have taken a generally hard-line stance on immigration, but have also raised concern over privacy implications in Bill C‑2. Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner said C-2 includes "snooping provisions" that are "a massive poison pill."

The NDP has voiced serious concerns about Bill C-2, echoing many of the same issues raised by civil society, especially when it comes to violations of Canadian privacy rights and the bill’s harmful restrictions on refugee and migrant protections. They believe “the title of the act is for show for the Trump administration," and pointed out that many of its provisions undermine Canada’s own systems with little to do with the U.S., accusing the Liberals of “caving in to Trump & his billionaire friends.”

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May has been openly critical of Bill C-2. She argues that Bill C‑2 threatens civil liberties, including refugee access, due process, and privacy, and has criticized Carney’s new majority coalition as a Liberal-Conservative alliance delivering Pierre Poilievre’s policies “with a more friendly face.” The Green Party is calling for serious scrutiny and substantial amendments, but has not yet called for the bill to be withdrawn.

The Bloc Québécois has not yet publicly taken a definitive stance on Bill C-2. However, since 2012, the Bloc has moved toward a more restrictive stance on immigration, advocating for greater Quebec control over immigration and integration, which may bias them in favour of supporting the Liberals on Bill C-2 despite its many problems. That makes raising your voice especially important if you’re based in Quebec - you are particularly critical to make sure there is a real fight on C-2!

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Taking Action

12. What can I do to stop Bill C-2?

Write to your MP! Tell them Bill C-2 is a betrayal of your values, and you won’t stand for it.

Your voice has never been more important. This Parliament is filled with new MPs who have yet to hear from ordinary Canadians like you and don’t realize how much you care about privacy, fairness, and human rights.

While a few policymakers are starting to raise concerns about Bill C-2, most are only talking about making minor amendments. Very few have had the courage to publicly call for this dangerous, deeply flawed bill to be completely withdrawn. We need that to change; and it can, with your help!

Much of the debate is still happening behind closed doors. That’s why we need your help to push MPs to speak out publicly, take a stand, and help stop Bill C-2 in its tracks!

13. How do I talk to others about Bill C-2?

You don’t need to be an expert to talk about Bill C-2. Just start with what matters to your friends and family. Whether it’s privacy, fairness, refugee rights, or growing U.S. surveillance, this bill touches on the concerns we all share.

We’ve got your back with resources to help you speak up:

• Share this Bill C-2 FAQ to explain what’s at stake;
• Share our joint letter signed by 300+ organizations to show folks how broad the opposition to Bill C-2 really is;
• And share our action page as a quick and easy way to message your MP and stop Bill C-2!

So far, nearly 8,000 OpenMedia community members have sent out their messages to their MPs. But many more are needed to stop this dangerous, anti-rights, anti-privacy, anti-Canadian bill.

You're part of a powerful community fighting back! With your action and sharing today, you get us one step closer to stopping C-2 and defending Canadian rights and values!