Among the more significant pieces of legislation adopted in the 42nd Parliament was Bill C-14, passed with a
free vote, as the government's response to
Carter v Canada; it inserted the term "medical assistance in dying" into the
Criminal Code and made provisions for adult Canadians to engage in the practice. Bill C-16 added "gender identity or expression" to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination in the
Canadian Human Rights Act and the list of characteristics of identifiable groups protected from hate propaganda in the
Criminal Code – with only 40 Conservative Party members, who were all granted a free vote, opposed the bill. With all party support, the
Accessible Canada Act (Bill C-81) created the Canadian Accessibility Standards Development Organization and the positions of Accessibility Commissioner as a member of the
Human Rights Commission and Chief Accessibility Officer as an adviser to the minister responsible for accessibility. The
Cannabis Act (Bill C-45) created a
legal framework that allows for recreational use of cannabis by adults. Bill C-69 repealed and replaced the
Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and the
National Energy Board Act with the
Impact Assessment Act and the
Canadian Energy Regulator Act, respectively, and renamed the
Navigation Protection Act to the
Canadian Navigable Waters Act with new considerations for what constitutes 'navigable water'. With only the Conservative Party opposed, Bill C-55 amended the
Oceans Act to require the use of the
precautionary principle in establishing a
marine protected areas and added the maintenance of ecological integrity as a reason for their establishment. In November 2018 Bill C-89 ended a
strike action by employees of
Canada Post. In modernizing existing legislation, the
Transportation Modernization Act (Bill C-49) amended the
Canada Transportation Act to, among other things, implement long-haul
interswitching as a permanent mechanism in the rail industry, exclude revenue from interswitching and from the movement of grain in containers on
flatcars from
Canadian National Railway and
Canadian Pacific Railway's maximum revenue entitlement,; require railway companies to keep up-to-date plans for each of their railway lines and to publicly report on their abilities to move a given summer's grain crop along with a winter contingency plans, raise the foreign ownership limits for Canadian airlines from 25% to 49% of an airline's voting interest with the new rule that no single foreign investor may own more than 25%, expand the review of joint ventures in the airline industry to also include the public interest and fair competition practices; the bill also amended several other transportation-related acts including the
CN Commercialization Act to increase the individual ownership limit in
Canadian National Railway from 15% to 25%, and the
Railway Safety Act to require the installation of locomotive voice and video recorders onto trains. Bill C-23 repealed the
Preclearance Act, 1999 and replaced it with the
Preclearance Act, 2016 Bill C-59 modernized
national security matters by adopting four new acts titled the
National Security and Intelligence Review Agency Act, the
Avoiding Complicity in Mistreatment by Foreign Entities Act and the
Intelligence Commissioner Act and
Communications Security Establishment Act, in addition to making amendments to the
Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act,
Security of Canada Information Sharing Act and
Secure Air Travel Act. Bill C-25 variously amended the
Canada Business Corporations Act,
Canada Cooperatives Act, and
Canada Not‑for‑profit Corporations Act to, among other things, allow more online tools to be used to disseminate required information to shareholders in notice and access systems, to require certain types of corporations to disclose to shareholders the composition of their boards and senior management, as well as their diversity policies or the statement that they do not have a diversity policy. The bill also prohibited businesses from issuing
bearer forms of
share certificates and
share warrants and modified how directors of certain corporations and cooperatives are elected: that they must be elected individually, not as a slate or a group of candidates, and reduce maximum term lengths from 3 to 1 years. Bill C-57 updated how Canada's
Sustainable Development Strategy is implemented. Bill C-78 updated the
Divorce Act and two other related acts, as well as brought them in line with international standards of the
Child Protection Convention and
Child Support Convention. On public safety and crime, Bill C-46 inserted new provisions into the
Criminal Code regarding
drug–impaired driving and the ability of
peace officers to use
drug screening equipment and random
breath testing. On animal cruelty, Bill C-84 expanded the Criminal Code's provisions against cockpits to include any "arena for animal fighting" and in response to the Supreme Court of Canada findings in
R. v. D.L.W., added a definition for bestiality. Bill C-75, generally seeking to address court delays and promote fair and efficient trails but also included multiple other amendments, removed the allowance of
peremptory challenge, allowed warrants to be acted upon anywhere in Canada rather than only in its originating province, added new provisions for videoconference by judges and court participants, restricted the use of preliminary inquiries to only cases involving offences punishable by life imprisonment, reclassified an additional 115 offenses as hybrid offenses so that they may be prosecuted either as summary convictions or as indictable offences, increased the maximum penalty for summary convictions to two years imprisonment, and deleted or amended offenses from the Criminal Code that the Supreme Court found to be unconstitutional (abortion in
R v Morgentaler, vagrancy in
R v Heywood, spreading false news in
R v Zundel, anal intercourse in
R v CM, and those offenses in
R v Martineau). Bill C-51 repealed or modified provisions within the
Criminal Code found to be unconstitutional or obsolete, including those against
dueling,
blasphemous libel,
witchcraft,
crime comics and
trading stamps and, in response to
R v JA, clarified that an unconscious person is unable to grant consent to sexual activity. The
Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act (Bill C-66) allows the
Parole Board of Canada to
expunge historical convictions related to
gross indecency,
buggery or
anal intercourse. Bill C-93 created a process in the
Criminal Records Act to allow individuals convicted of possession of cannabis before its legalization to request a
record suspension. Partially in response to recent court decisions on
solitary confinement and the recommendations of the
Ashley Smith inquest, Bill C-83 replaced the system of administrative and disciplinary segregation in federal prisons with "structured intervention units". Bill C-71 amended the
Firearms Act to delete the 5-year limitation on background checks, mandate that sellers verify a
licence before selling a non‑restricted firearm, require sellers to maintain records of sales, require that automatic authorization to transport documents specify destinations and repeals the
Governor in Council's ability to reclassify specific firearms between restricted and non-restricted. Bill C-71 also undid the provisions in the
Economic Action Plan 2015 Act, No. 1 exempting the
Ending the Long‑gun Registry Act from the
Privacy Act,
Access to Information Act and the
Library and Archives of Canada Act; and allows Quebec access to the Canadian Firearms Registry Data as requested in
Quebec (AG) v Canada (AG). Responding to other legislation adopted during the
previous parliament, Bill C-37, removed some of the obstacles to
supervised injection sites that the previous parliament's
Respect for Communities Act had put in place and replaced the previous government's National Anti-Drug Strategy with the new Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy, mostly centered on the
opioid epidemic. Bill C-6 amended or repealed parts of the previous parliament's
Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act including the ability to revoke citizenship based on national security, the requirement that applicants for citizenship aged 14 to 18 and 55 to 64 to prove adequate knowledge Canada and of an official language, the residency requirement increase from three years to four years, the disallowance of time spent as temporary resident as contributing to the residency requirement, and the condition of citizenship that the applicant must intend to reside in Canada. Bill C-6 kept, but modified or expanded,
Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Acts prohibition that time spent imprisoned does not contribute to the residency requirement, that an imprisoned applicant may not be granted citizenship, and that citizenship applicants must file tax returns during their residency requirement. In addition to adding a purpose statement to the
Fisheries Act, Bill C-68 restored the provision against the harmful alteration, disruption or destruction of fish habitat that the
Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act had deleted. Bill C-4 repealed two private member bills adopted in the last parliament concerning union voting and financial reporting. Preparing for the
2016 Census, and in response to the previous government's involvement in the
2011 Census, Bill C-36 amended the
Statistics Act to provide more independence to the
Chief Statistician, remove imprisonment as a penalty for not responding to a census, and replacing the
National Statistics Council with the Canadian Statistics Advisory Council. Bills C-17 and C-88 amended the previous parliament's
Yukon and Nunavut Regulatory Improvement Act and the
Northwest Territories Oil and Gas Operations Act, respectively, to address certain objections to the previous legislation. Bill C-62 restored or addressed changes made by the previous parliament to the
Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act regarding the determination of essential services, the ability to select between arbitration and conciliation to resolve collective bargaining disputes, and matters related to sick and disability leave. Following through with international agreements, Bill C-11 implemented the
Marrakesh VIP Treaty, Bill C-13 implemented the
Bali Package, Bill C-64 implemented the
Wreck Removal Convention, Bill C-82 implemented the
BEPS multilateral instrument, and Bill C-31 implemented the
Canada–Ukraine Free Trade Agreement, all with unanimous consent, while the
Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Bill C-30) and the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (Bill C-79) were implemented with only Liberals and Conservatives in support. Fulfilling a condition to ending
Trump tariffs on steel and aluminum, Bill C-101 suspended, until 2021, the moratorium on
trade safeguards. Further integrating the principles of the
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the
Indigenous Languages Act (Bill C-91) created the Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages to support the efforts of Indigenous peoples in maintaining Indigenous languages and Bill C-92 expanded the what is considered the
best interests of an Indigenous child in the provision of child and family services to include the child's traditions, customs and language. With only Liberal Party support, Bill C-7 was adopted as the government's response to the
Supreme Court's ruling in
Mounted Police Association of Ontario v Canada (Attorney General), allowing
RCMP members to have certain
collective bargaining rights. Bill C-22 created the
National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians. Bill C-58 amended the
Access to Information Act to insert a new purpose statement, insert in requirements to make requests, allow
bad faith or
vexatious requests to be refused, and require proactive publication of certain information (e.g. travel expenses, hospitality expenses, etc.) Bill C-10 amended the
Air Canada Public Participation Act to expand where
Air Canada's maintenance centres may be located to the general provinces of
Manitoba,
Ontario and
Quebec, rather than the specific cities of
Winnipeg,
Mississauga and
Montreal. With only the Conservative Party and Bloc Québécois opposed, Bill C-50 created new reporting requirements for political fundraising events attended by a party leader or a minister and expanded the reporting of leadership campaign expenses.
Financial measures Regarding financial measures, Bill C-2 amended the
Income Tax Act to lower federal tax paid on income between $45,283 and $90,563 from 22% to 20.5% and introduce a new top
tax bracket that applies a rate of 33% to a person's income in excess of $200,000. The bill also re-instated the $5,500 annual limit to
Tax-Free Savings Account contributions which the previous parliament had raised to $10,000. Bill C-26 amended the
Canada Pension Plan to create the Additional Canada Pension Plan Account and to increase the maximum level of pensionable earnings. The legislative changes resulting from the
2016 budget were implemented in Bill C-15 and Bill C-29 and included replacing the Canada Child Tax Benefit and Universal Child Care Benefit with the
Canada Child Benefit, repealing the Family Tax Cut (income splitting) Credit, Education Tax Credit, Textbook Tax Credit, Children's Arts Tax Credit, Child Fitness Tax Credit, creating the School Supplies Tax Credit, exempting insulin pens, intermittent urinary catheters and
feminine hygiene products from GST/HST, allowing a charity or athletic association to hold up to 20% interest in a
limited partnership business, and expanding the definition of "Canadian exploration expense" to include environmental studies and community consultations conducted as a condition of obtaining a licence or permit. The
Canadian Forces disability award and death benefit were raised to $360,000; the rates for Northern Residents Deduction were increased by 33%; and employment insurance benefits were temporarily extended for high unemployment areas (e.g. the northern areas of the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and BC, the cities of Sudbury and Whitehorse, and most of the provinces of Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador). Bill C-15 also repealed the previous parliament's
Federal Balanced Budget Act and rolled back its age eligibility for the
Old Age Security pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement from 67 to 65 years old. The legislative changes resulting from the
2017 budget were implemented in Bill C-44 and Bill C-63 Among the changes was the phasing out of the
Canada Savings Bond program, making
vehicle for hire companies subject to GST/HST, exempting
naloxone from GST/HST, eliminating of the Public Transit Tax Credit and Investment Tax Credit for Child Care Spaces, eliminating the GST/HST rebate for non-residents using Canadian accommodations as part of a tour package, increasing the excise tax on tobacco products and tying increases of the excise tax on alcoholic products to the
consumer price index, and allowing
mark-to-market accounting to be used for income tax calculations in
forward rate and
swap agreements. Bill C-44 included, within it, the
Canada Infrastructure Bank Act to invest directly or attract private investment in infrastructure projects that are anticipated to generate revenue and be in the public interest, and the
Invest in Canada Act which created the new
crown corporation called Invest in Canada Hub to promote
foreign direct investment and created the
Service Fees Act to replace the
User Fees Act. Bill C-63 included, within it, the
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Agreement Act so Canada could join the
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, repealed the
Timber Marking Act, and created the
Canadian Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act to replace the
Agreement on Internal Trade Implementation Act. The legislative changes resulting from the
2018 budget were implemented in Bill C-74 and Bill C-86. Among the changes was making
cannabis subject to an
excise duty, requiring the excise duty on tobacco products be adjusted for inflation every year instead of every five years, reducing the
small business tax rate from 10.5% to and to 9%, removing the requirement for a risk score to
Canadian Armed Forces personnel and police officers serving on international missions to qualify for tax relief on income earned while deployed, amending the
Veterans Well-being Act to merge four benefit programs to create the new Income Replacement Benefit and replacing the Disability Award with a new 'pain and suffering compensation', renaming the 'Working Income Tax Benefit' to the
'Canada Workers Benefit' while increasing its rate from 25% to 26%, expanding the Medical Expense Tax Credit to cover the costs of caring for a
service animal benefiting those living with a severe mental impairment, extending the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit by one year, extending the accelerated capital cost allowance program for clean energy generation and energy conservation equipment to 2025, expanding who is subject to Tax-on-Split-Income rules, creates the office of the Chief Information Officer of Canada, extends the
provincial equalization payments program to 2024, and inserted provisions for
deferred prosecution agreements into the Criminal Code. Bill C-74 included, within it, the
Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act which created national standards for
carbon pricing in Canada (i.e. a fuel charge and a fee on industrial emissions) and implemented a backstop federal system in jurisdictions where carbon pricing is not implemented by the provincial or territorial government. The legislative changes resulting from the
2019 budget were implemented in Bill C-97. Among the changes was the creation of the Canada Training Credit and the Digital News Subscription Tax Credit, a 5-year extension of the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit, financial incentives for purchasing specified clean energy equipment and
zero-emissions vehicles, exempting GST/HST from applying to supplies and imports of human
ova and imports of human
in vitro embryos, allowing non-profit news organizations to issue
charitable receipts, eliminating the requirement to complete an application to enroll into the
Canada Pension Plan, allowing recipients of the
Old Age Security to earn $5,000 of income without deductions, creating a First-Time Home Buyer Incentive administered by
CHMC, creating a six-month interest-free period on
student loans, and redirecting revenue raised from
carbon pricing to the areas where it was raised. Bill C-97 also amended the
Canada Business Corporations Act to add the interests retirees and pensioners to the list of factors to be considered in the best interests of corporations, and to require certain classes of corporations to disclose to their shareholders prescribed information on the diversity and remuneration of their directors and senior management and the well-being of employees and pensioners. Non-financial or business related amendments within Bill C-97 include a modernization of the
Pilotage Act, increasing the number of judges on the
Federal Court, making a provision which prevents people from making a refugee claim if they have already made a refugee claim in another country and inserting the
Thaidene Nëné National Park Reserve into the
Canada National Parks Act. Bill C-97 included within it the enactment of several other acts, including the
Poverty Reduction Act, the
National Housing Strategy Act, the
College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act, the
Security Screening Services Commercialization Act, the
Federal Prompt Payment for Construction Work Act.
Private member bills Ten private member bills received royal assent, with only Bill C-210 not receiving unanimous support: •
Mauril Bélanger's
An Act to amend the National Anthem Act (gender) (Bill C-210) replaces the words "in all thy sons command" to "in all of us command" in the English version of the
national anthem, •
Todd Doherty's
Federal Framework on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Act (Bill C-211) requires the Minister of Health to prepare a framework for tracking
incidence rates and for establishing guidelines for diagnosing, treating and managing
post-traumatic stress disorder, •
Ron McKinnon's
Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act (Bill C-224) amends the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to provide immunity from drug possession charges when seeking help to address an overdose, •
Rob Nicholson's ''National Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias Act'' (Bill C-233) requires the Minister of Health develop and implement a national strategy to address aspects of
dementia in the
healthcare system, •
Darren Fisher's
National Strategy for Safe and Environmentally Sound Disposal of Lamps Containing Mercury Act (Bill C-238) requires the Minister of the Environment develop a national strategy for the disposal tube and compact
fluorescent light bulbs, •
Marilyn Gladu's
Framework on Palliative Care in Canada Act (Bill C-277) requires the Minister of Health prepare a framework for improving access and delivery of
palliative care, •
Chandra Arya's
An Act to amend the Criminal Code (mischief) (Bill C-305) expands the scope of the
Criminal Code provisions relating to acts of mischief motivated by hate on religious property to also cover educational institutions, community centres, sports or recreational facilities and a residence for seniors, •
Sven Spengemann's
Gender Equality Week Act (Bill C-309) names the fourth week in September in every year Gender Equality Week, •
Colin Fraser's
An Act to amend the Holidays Act (Remembrance Day) (Bill C-311) adds the word
legal to the act. •
Sukh Dhaliwal's
Sikh Heritage Month Act (Bill C-376) names April of every year
Sikh Heritage Month.
Senate bills On behalf of the government, senate government bills included the
Strengthening Motor Vehicle Safety for Canadians Act (Bill S-2) which amended the
Motor Vehicle Safety Act to allow the
Minister of Transport to order a motor vehicle company to issue a
recall, rather than allow the process to be at the manufacturer's discretion; Bill S-3 which amended the
Indian Act as the government's response to a
Quebec Superior Court ruling finding sex-based inequities in the
Indian Register to be contrary to the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms; Bills S-4 and S-6 which implemented
tax treaties with Israel, Taiwan and Madagascar; and Bill S-5 renamed the
Tobacco Act to the
Tobacco and Vaping Products Act and introduced provisions relating to vaping products, such as a prohibition to selling or marketing to minors, plain packaging requirements and restrictions on advertising. Among the other bills initiated in the senate that were adopted by the parliament, Bill S-208 made May 20 of each year National Seal Products Day, Bill S-211 made June 19 of each year National Sickle Cell Awareness Day, Bill S-218 made October of every year Latin American Heritage Month, Bill S-232 made May of every year Canadian Jewish Heritage Month, and Bill S-236 simply states
Charlottetown is the birthplace of
Confederation. Other Senate public bills included the
Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (
Sergei Magnitsky Law) which allows the
Governor-in-Council to seize property situated in Canada of a foreign national believed to be involved in extrajudicial killings or violations of internationally recognized human rights, and the
Journalistic Sources Protection Act (Bill S-231) which allows journalists to object to an order to reveal a source of information and have the objection weighed by a court judge in light of public interest and rights to privacy. The
Genetic Non-Discrimination Act (Bill S-201) was adopted with the Conservative Party, NDP and Green Party in favour; Liberal Party members were granted a free vote though the prime-minister urged members to oppose the bill, as presented, based on concerns of inconsistency with the Constitution. The act makes it a criminal offence to require an individual to undergo a genetic test, or to disclose the results of such a test, as a condition of providing goods or services, with exceptions for health care practitioners and researchers.
Indigenous-focused bills during the 42nd Parliament of Canada • Bill C-61: Anishinabek Nation Governance Agreement Act (to implement an agreement with the Anishinabek Nation regarding governance) (passed) • Bill C-68: An Act to Amend the Fisheries Act (with provisions recognizing Indigenous fishing rights) (passed) • Bill C-70: An Act to Give Effect to the Agreement on Cree Nation Governance between the Crees of Eeyou Istchee and the Government of Canada, to Amend the Cree-Naskapi (of Quebec) Act and to Make Related and Consequential Amendments to Other Acts (passed) • Bill C-91: An Act Respecting Indigenous Languages (passed) • Bill C-92: An Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Children, Youth and Families (passed) • Bill C-262: United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) Act • Bill C-318: An Act to Establish Indian Residential School Reconciliation and Memorial Day • Bill C-332: An Act to Provide for Reporting on Compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples • Bill C-369: An Act to Amend the Bills of Exchange Act, the Interpretation Act, and the Canada Labour Code (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation) • Bill C-374: An Act to Amend the Historic Sites and Monuments Act (Indigenous Representation) (passed) • Bill C-386: An Act to Establish Orange Shirt Day: A Day for Truth and Reconciliation • Bill C-391: An Act Respecting a National Strategy for the Repatriation of Indigenous Human Remains and Cultural Property • Bill C-443: An Act to Protect, Maintain, Revitalize and Strengthen Indigenous Languages • Bill S-3: An Act to Amend the Indian Act (Elimination of Sex-Based Discrimination)(passed) • Bill S-212: An Act for the Advancement of the Aboriginal Languages of Canada and to Recognize and Respect Aboriginal Language Rights • Bill S-215: An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Sentencing for Violent Offences Against Indigenous Women) == Parliamentarians ==