OTTAWA, Ontario — Canada’s Senate on Wednesday passed bill S-209, the “Protecting Young Persons from Exposure to Pornography Act,” which would require commercial adult websites to verify that Canadian users are at least 18 years old.
S-209 requires age verification to be conducted by a third party “that deals at arm’s length from any organization making pornographic material available on the Internet for commercial purposes.”
The bill assigns to the governor general and the federal cabinet the responsibility for determining what constitutes "commercial purposes" under the proposed law.
If the bill next passes Canada’s House of Commons and becomes law, sites that fail to comply with its provisions will be subject to fines of up to $250,000 for a first offense and up to $500,000 for subsequent offenses.
Sen. Julie Miville-Dechêne introduced the bill in May 2025. Miville-Dechêne’s previous multiple attempts to legislate national age verification requirements all failed, including a 2024 bill that sparked objections from Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne and others about its potential for censorship. However, Dufresne endorsed S-209 last year, telling legislators that it addresses privacy concerns in ways that previous AV bills did not.
The Canadian Bar Association took an opposing stance when S-209 was introduced, warning that its lack of specifics could leave the door open to regulations requiring intrusive methods of age verification, and that the bill could enable “collateral censorship.”
The bill mandates that the Federal Court order internet service providers to block access to pornographic material if sites fail to comply with the proposed law. During the amendment process, in an attempt to address censorship concerns, a Senate committee removed language stating that the blocking process could involve restricting adults’ access to pornographic material and removing non-pornographic content alongside targeted material. However, the amended bill does not specifically prohibit those outcomes, and leaves many enforcement details to be decided by the government.
Before the Senate voted on the bill, Conservative Party Sen. Yohan Martin, who serves as deputy opposition leader, praised Miville-Dechêne as “a champion” and extolled what she described as the bill’s careful balancing of protection and privacy.
“I believe we now have before us a bill that, while recognizing that perfect enforcement does not exist, offers a stronger and more proportionate framework,” Martin said. “The message we must send today is simple: When it comes to protecting children in the digital space, inaction is not an option.”
