News release

Privacy Commissioner of Canada launches new age assurance guidance to support organizations

May 4, 2026 – Gatineau, Quebec

Privacy Commissioner of Canada Philippe Dufresne marked the start of Privacy Awareness Week 2026 with the launch of his Office’s new guidance on age assurance following an extensive public consultation.

During his keynote address to professionals in the fields of privacy, artificial intelligence governance, and cybersecurity at the IAPP Canada Symposium in Toronto today, Commissioner Dufresne said that the guidance sets out the ways in which the goal of creating a safer and more appropriate online experience for children can be advanced while mitigating potential adverse impacts on privacy.

In his remarks, Commissioner Dufresne also discussed findings from his Office’s most recent survey of Canadian businesses on privacy-related issues, and the results of other work to gather feedback to help develop a Children’s Privacy Code and advance children’s privacy research.

Championing children’s privacy is one of Commissioner Dufresne’s strategic priorities. Throughout his mandate, he has emphasized the importance of prioritizing privacy to ensure that organizations respect children’s privacy rights, and design services and products with strong protections for the personal information of children.

Guidance on age assurance

The new age assurance guidance documents are intended for operators of websites and online services as well as age assurance developers.

The guidance sets out advice to help organizations to assess when age assurance should or must be used, and to determine the design features or privacy considerations that should be addressed both when using and designing age assurance systems.

The Commissioner had previously shared preliminary positions on age assurance technologies as part of an exploratory consultation. The responses received helped to inform the final documents launched today.

Children’s Privacy Code

In his speech, the Commissioner also discussed a new report summarizing the feedback that his Office received during a separate consultation on the development of a Canadian Children’s Privacy Code. This included consideration of how to ensure that private-sector organizations implement strong safeguards and transparent practices for children’s personal information, and that children and youth have effective tools to meaningfully exercise their privacy rights.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) is currently preparing a code that builds on the responses received during the exploratory consultation.

Advancing privacy research on children

Also today, the OPC published reports summarizing the results of OPC-led focus groups to better understand the online experiences of Canadian youth related to data privacy as well as the results of a youth summit on the best interests of the child in the digital environment. Their voices played an important role in deepening the OPC’s understanding of how these issues impact young people.

The summit, held in November 2025 in collaboration with researchers from the University of Ottawa and McGill University, involved discussions with children and youth about their experiences and opinions on issues related to the digital environment.

Participants put forward a list of priority areas that helped inform the OPC’s Children’s Privacy Code, and that the research team will use to develop policy recommendations to inform future Canadian laws, regulations, and guidelines so that they better reflect children’s voices.

Business survey on privacy issues

The OPC’s latest survey of Canadian businesses on privacy-related issues focused on businesses that sell or offer services or products directly to individual consumers.

According to the survey findings, nine in 10 businesses (91%) say that they have taken steps to ensure that their company complies with Canada’s privacy laws.

The survey also found that eight in 10 (84%) businesses say that they have a privacy policy.

The vast majority (90%) of companies say that they are at least moderately prepared to respond to a data breach. The survey report will be published on the OPC website in the coming weeks.

Quote

“As Canadian children spend a significant portion of their lives online, it is essential that their experiences, and the technologies that they use, are developed and deployed in a safe and responsible manner that promotes and protects the bests interests of children. Age assurance can be a valuable mechanism to advance the goal of reducing potential harms experienced by children online. In providing this new guidance on age assurance, my aim is to help organizations to implement age assurance in ways that mitigate the impacts on privacy.”

Philippe Dufresne
Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Related links

• Age Assurance – Policy Note
• Assessing whether and how to use age assurance – Guidance for websites and online services
• Designing age assurance to be privacy-protective – Guidance for age assurance developers
• Consultation on the Development of a Children’s Privacy Code – What We Heard
• Youth Summit on the Best Interests of the Child in the Digital Environment: Preliminary Report
• Report: Understanding Young Canadians’ Online Experiences in Relation to Data Privacy

Media contact

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
communications@priv.gc.ca