Our 2025 Wins, and how they’ll shape a Stronger 2026

A recap of how 230,000 Canadians made independent advocacy possible—and how OpenMedia will fight for a stronger 2026 in an increasingly uncertain world.

“Strong, Sovereign, Free and Fair” was a motto we set for Canada, as Canadians went to the ballot box in spring 2025. Since then, it has guided OpenMedia to be our best self—grounding our work in the lived experiences and perspectives of people across our community, and working to ensure our collective voices shape decisions that directly affect Canadians’ rights, privacy, and our democracy.

In this article, we’ll recap the wins we achieved together in 2025 and offer a sneak peek at what we’re gearing up for in 2026, as debates around AI strategy, online harms legislation, the Strong Border bills, and other domestic issues return to the forefront.

How did we start 2025?

The Liberals stayed after last April’s election, but many key policies from the previous government didn’t survive. The Online Harms Bill (Bill C-63), Privacy Reform Bill C-27, and the AI regulations contained in it all died with the last Parliament, the digital service tax was rescinded, and the future of any of these measures has been swept under the rug.

When government began reintroducing legislation, it was with a different and concerning set of priorities. Later in the year, we saw cybersecurity legislation retabled as Bill C-8, and age verification resurrected and renamed Bill S-209. Both inherited serious flaws from their respective predecessors in the last Parliament, Bill C-26 (cybersecurity) and Bill S-210 (age verification).

Two shadows loomed large over Canada’s national conversations through the rest of the year; the need for digital sovereignty and Canadian policy determination, and the need for policy makers around the world to grapple with AI, as the influence of this technology grew in daily life. Meanwhile, the aggression of Canada’s southern neighbour under the Trump administration continued to expand across multiple fronts globally.

What’s the highlights?

Through it all, your OpenMedia team kept building momentum together, working to translate your needs into actionable demands of our government. We created campaigns, petitions, FAQ, articles, written submissions, policy briefs and more to make your voice count in crucial debates on Bill C-2, AI rules, digital sovereignty, voter privacy, telecom issues, privacy and more.

While digital sovereignty and the so-called “Strong Border” Bills, Bill C-2 and C-12, naturally drew much of the attention from the public and our leaders, we know that even the smallest changes to policies affecting your rights and privacy cannot be ignored.

We joined forces with our peers in civil society to call for overhaul of Canada’s approach to digital policy (May), demand withdrawal of Bill C-2 (June), and call on Prime Minister Carney to act to protect Canada’s digital sovereignty and stop Big Tech from tightening its grip (September).
We launched a community survey on Canadian Content (January), presented our community’s vision at CRTC (May), and continue to follow its development and speak up for you as the CRTC released their new definition (November).
We consulted over 3,000 OpenMedia members on AI, came up with thorough policy recommendations based on your input, called out government’s hasty consultation approach, added your voices in the consultations on the Canada-EU Digital Trade Agreement and CUSMA, contributed to the national conversation and turned your words into a new action as Canada shapes its AI strategy.
We hosted our first-ever #AskMeAnything webinar, to explore all things policies with our community (April) and hosted The Glass Room exhibition in New Westminster, BC for the general public and the younger generation to learn more about misinformation.

Our 2025 wins

Over the year, we rallied over 47,000 people across Canada to raise their voices for change.

- Over 10,000 people showed up in force and spoke up against Bill C-2, the Strong Border Bill.
- Through our #KeepOurDataHome campaign, more than 5,700 people demanded attention to Canada’s digital sovereignty.
- Over 5,500 members opposed the fast-track of the flawed cybersecurity bill, Bill C-8.
- A petition calling for a strong Competition Commissioner to fight monopolies gathered 4,700 signatures, and is now on Industry Minister Melanie Jolie’s desk.
- More than 3,000 people pushed for long-overdue privacy law reform.

Nearly 3,000 have already raised concerns about pursuing a “Buy Now, Regret Later” AI future.

In just the last few weeks, over 2,000 Canadians spoke out against pseudoanonymous cryptocurrency influencing our democracy through our “Keep crypto corruption out of Canada” campaign.

Our 2026 plan

The world entered 2026 amid major geopolitical shifts: the civil revolution against the Islamic Regime in Iran; the U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, and President Trump’s repeated threat on taking control of Greenland, and suggests the U.S. could take action against other countries, including Colombia.

This shifting world order has many Canadians worried as Canada prepares for the review of the Canada‑United States‑Mexico Trade Agreement (CUSMA) in July 2026. Will Canada cede more digital rights in hopes of a trade deal, or will we fight for amendments to a renewed deal that will set the stage for true digital sovereignty? The answers we find for generational digital policy questions on AI, online harms, digital sovereignty, and rights and privacy will influence the laws and norms that govern our lives and our democracy for years to come.

The future is uncertain, but our values and priorities are not! The OpenMedia spirit is high, and we’re ready to take on these battles for you. One of our core beliefs remains: decisions shouldn’t be made about people without people. Three guiding priorities will steer our work through 2026:

AI Rules That Protect Canadians: The government is signalling a “move fast and break things” approach. We’ll push for safeguards against algorithmic bias, environmental harm, and other risks.
Real Digital Sovereignty: We’ll fight to make “digital sovereignty” more than a buzzword. Sensitive Canadian data should stay under Canadian law—not locked in Big Tech servers abroad.
Holding Monopolies Accountable: From Rogers to Amazon, monopolies affect Canadians every day. With a new Competition Commissioner in 2026, we’ll apply maximum pressure to make sure open cases against these giants don’t quietly disappear, as we’ve seen elsewhere.

How we’ll do it

Amplify your voice through surveys, studies, and loud, hard-hitting campaigns, we’ll make sure decision-makers hear what matters to you.
Create spaces to discuss and explore ideas, question assumptions, and share perspectives about our digital future with everyday Canadians.
Expand our community and reach more voices across Canada, including francophone, diasporic, and younger Canadians, so our movement fully reflects the people it represents.
Empower action by equipping YOU with campaigns, resources, and pathways to take action on the digital issues that matter most, linking you up with the people power of thousands of fellow Canadians!

Thank you for standing with us!

None of our past or future achievements are possible without your support, your actions, and your voice! Your commitment to a better future for our Internet makes a huge difference.

In 2026, we’ll do our best to turn Canadians’ priorities into action, powered entirely by the support and small donations of everyday people. We hope you’ll choose to keep standing with OpenMedia and fuel our fight for a free, fair, and rights-respecting internet in 2026!

If you’re able to show your support today, we’d truly appreciate it.