On September 22, 2021, Quebec's An Act to modernize legislative provisions as
regards the protection of personal information (Bill 64)
received Royal Assent after adoption by the Quebec National
Assembly. Quebec is the first Canadian jurisdiction to
significantly reform its privacy law regime by amending various
laws related to the protection of personal information, including
the Act respecting the protection of personal information
in the private sector (the Private Sector Act), the Act to
establish a legal framework for information technology, and
the Act respecting Access to documents held by public
bodies and the Protection of personal information.
In a previous bulletin, we discussed the many ways
Bill 64 creates obligations on private and public sector
organizations in Quebec similar to those imposed by the European
Union's General Data Protection Regulations.
Most amendments to Quebec's Private Sector Act will come into
force on September 22, 2023, with only a few provisions coming into
force next year. Notably, on September 22, 2022, the requirement to
notify the Commission d'acces a l'information (CAI) and
affected individuals of a privacy breach (a confidentiality
incident) that presents a risk of serious injury will come into
force.
Prior to receiving Royal Assent, Bill 64 was amended by Quebec's Committee on Institutions
(Committee). Important changes to Bill 64 made by the Committee
include:
- Expanding the definition of personal information to mean any information which relates to a natural person and allowing that person to be identified either directly or indirectly
- Permitting organizations to use personal information without consent when its use is necessary for the supply or delivery of a product or the provision of a service, and for the prevention and detection of fraud or the evaluation or improvement of protection and security measures or the evaluation or improvement of protection and security measures
- Removing the restriction on transfers of personal information outside of Quebec to jurisdictions with "equivalent protection" to Bill 64 and instead permitting transfer to jurisdictions where it would receive "an adequate protection in compliance with generally accepted data protection principles", after conducting a privacy impact assessment
- Requiring organizations to demonstrate a serious and legitimate purpose in order to anonymize personal information rather than destroy it
- A new administrative monetary penalty and a new offence provision for failing to take appropriate security measures to ensure the protection of personal information collected, used, communicated, kept or destroyed
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