OTTAWA, Ontario — Sen. Julie Miville-Dechêne, whose previous multiple attempts to legislate national age verification requirements all failed, has introduced a new bill that would impose fines of up to $500,000 on adult sites that do not implement age verification for Canadian viewers.
As XBIZ reported in 2022, Miville-Dechêne has repeatedly introduced measures to require adult sites to implement age verification for Canadian users. In 2024, Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne and others warned about the censorship implications of S-210, Miville-Dechêne’s last attempt to make age verification the law of the land in Canada.
The new bill, S-209, is titled “The Protecting Young Persons from Exposure to Pornography Act.” Adult sites that fail to comply with its provisions by implementing age verification or age estimation would be subject to fines of up to $250,000 for a first offense and up to $500,000 for subsequent offenses.
Notably, the bill also requires internet service providers to block noncompliant websites. It acknowledges that such enforcement actions may result in blocking all Canadians’ access to content on such sites, including non-pornographic content.
Miville-Dechêne was questioned about the same provision in her previous bill, S-210, during a 2024 interview on the “Law Bytes” podcast. When host Michael Geist asked her about the provision's potential for blocking adults from viewing legal content, she responded, “I'm not worrying. Adults will continue to be able to watch porn.”
“The freedom of expression of porn actors cannot be more important than the protection of children,” Miville-Dechêne added.