Identity theft is a growing concern, estimated to cost Canadian consumers, financial institutions and businesses more than $2 billion annually. To combat this problem, the federal government has introduced proposed amendments to the Criminal Code.

Currently, there are certain offences in the Criminal Code relating to the misuse of another person's identity information, such as personation and forgery. However, the existing offences do not cover collecting, possessing and trafficking in identity information, which are preparatory steps to identity fraud. According to the government, these reforms will permit police to intervene at an earlier stage of the criminal operations, before identity fraud is attempted or committed.

Bill C-27 will make it an offence to:

  1. obtain or possess identity information with the intention to use it to commit certain crimes such as fraud or forgery (Identity information is broadly defined to include "any information — including biological or physiological information — of a type that is commonly used alone or in combination with other information to identify or purport to identify an individual." It encompasses name, address, date of birth, signature, credit card number, passport number, health insurance number, driver's licence number, fingerprint, voiceprint and DNA profile, as well as other information.);
  2. traffic in identity information knowing or being reckless that such information will be used to commit certain crimes; or
  3. unlawfully possess or traffic in government-issued identity documents such as social insurance numbers, driver's licences, health insurance cards, birth certificates and passports.

Each new offence carries a maximum five-year sentence. The legislation also allows the court to order an offender to reimburse the victim of identity theft or identity fraud for expenses incurred to re-establish the victim's identity, including the cost of replacing identity documents and correcting credit history.

McCarthy Tétrault Notes:

Identity theft is a mounting concern for clients and consumers in the wake of increasing instances of 'phishing' as well as massive data privacy breaches, whether through inadvertent data loss or through deliberate security intrusions.

The past year has seen several high-profile instances of data theft, the first step in a process that may lead to identity theft. McCarthy Tétrault has assisted a number of its clients with matters related to information security, as well as mitigation of loss following a privacy breach. The proposed amendments to the Criminal Code serve to highlight the serious nature and high cost of identity theft, and will, it is hoped, reduce the frequency and scope of its occurrence.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.