Canada: Office of the Privacy Commissioner opened consultation on draft guidance on assessing whether and how to use age assurance for websites and online services

On 4 May 2026, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) opened a consultation on draft guidance on assessing whether and how to use age assurance for websites and online services until 4 August 2026. The draft guidance applies to operators of websites and online services. It sets out a three-stage framework requiring organisations to determine whether age assurance is needed, what form it should take, and how it must be applied in a privacy-protective manner. Organisations must demonstrate either a legal requirement or a specific potential harm to children before using age assurance, and must consider alternative approaches before adopting it. The draft guidance requires age assurance to be proportionate to the risk being addressed. Personal information collected for age assurance must not be used for any other purpose or to correlate visits by the same individual. Organisations must provide individuals with options between age assurance methods and with appeal mechanisms where access is denied.