Chapter 4: Government Response
Special Report on the Lawful Access to Communications by Security and Intelligence Organizations

129. The previous chapter describes the operational response by security and intelligence agencies to lawful access challenges, which the Committee views as “bottom-up” initiatives to mitigate these challenges within Canada’s existing lawful access framework. This chapter examines the “top-down” attempts by the government to modernize this framework from 2012 to late 2024. In this time period, the government tried to address lawful access challenges across several cross-cutting policy initiatives, including through legislative attempts, public consultations, funding initiatives, and international cooperation. The Committee has opted to present the government’s response chronologically, by parliamentary session.