Canada Pushes for Age Assurance Law to Align with UK, EU Standards

Author: admin | 08 Jul 2025

In Canada, a new bill has been introduced in Parliament to enforce age verification on adult websites and the sites that are specifically restricted for children. Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne proposes the bill. It would require pornographic websites to install age estimation and age restriction methods to verify the age of the visitor and restrict them if they are under age. These procedures must not violate the privacy of the user, and can be gesture-based biometric tests. The proposal is similar to those that have already been adopted in the UK and the European Union in the same scenario. Therefore, with corrective measures weighing less, of up to CA$250,000 and CA$500,000, respectively, on first and subsequent infractions.

The bill reintroduces some of the provisions of Bill S-210, 2023, which failed to pass before the 2025 election in the country. The new version of this bill addresses some of the earlier concerns about the privacy of visitors on such websites. This is by clarifying what constitutes acceptable age assurance technology and what methods they use to verify the user. It encourages third-party solutions that reduce data exposure and remove the data once the visitor is identified. Miville-Dechêne cited UK regulations and France’s enforcement models as benchmarks of the ultimate children’s privacy protection and regulating the age assurance laws.

The trend towards the age verification of the world population is currently gaining traction for restricted sites for children. In the UK, the regulator Ofcom starts enforcement on July 25, whereas the EU has already started investigations into non-compliant platforms. The age assurance law passed by Texas was recently affirmed by the Supreme Court in the US as not being a violation of free speech.

In response to the use of AI in making deepfakes and child exploitation, Canada’s Justice Minister Sean Fraser confirmed that online harms legislation will also be reviewed. Some parts of earlier bills that were rejected because they raised concerns about free speech and the quick removal of content may come back with the government.

Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub, which is based in Canada, promotes the device-level age checks, and undertook to promote the future laws. Governments worldwide are now increasingly focusing their attention on child protection to ensure their safety. The renewed initiative in Canada is an indication that the country intends to maintain its current level of commitment to global age assurance and online safety.