Canada’s C-22 bill is a surveillance overreach that paves the way to backdoor encrypted communications of users around the world. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

On April 22, 2026, Shakir Rahim, Director of the Criminal Justice Program, testified on Bill C-14 restricting bail before the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. Watch it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6y5... The CCLA’s brief can be read here: tinyurl.com/3439atmc.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association congratulates Justice Louise Arbour on her appointment as Canada’s next Governor-General! Read the full story here. ccla.org/criminal-jus...

CCLA expressed profound disappointment and alarm following the Ontario government’s decision to proceed with regulations granting transit enforcement agents sweeping police-equivalent powers. ccla.org/press-releas...

Today, on the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirt, trans and gender diverse people (MMIWG2S), CCLA joins in remembrance of those who have been lost, and in solidarity with the families, survivors, and communities who continue to seek justice.

CCLA has been granted leave to intervene in Saskatchewan (Minister of Education) v. UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity, a landmark case before the Supreme Court of Canada. ccla.org/press-releas...

The Ontario government has pushed Bill 97 into law, avoiding legislative scrutiny of an initiative that will undermine government transparency while also shielding the government’s privacy practices from public and regulatory scrutiny. ccla.org/fundamental-...

Today marks one month since the historic Bill 21 case began at the Supreme Court. Though the case has concluded, our advocacy has not. Chair of CCLA’s Board of Directors, Dr. Simron Singh (he/him), speaks to why organizations like CCLA are needed now more than ever. youtube.com/shorts/5k0tr...

CCLA and a broad coalition of groups call on all members of Parliament to scrap Bill C-22’s unprecedented and unjustified expansion of surveillance. ccla.org/privacy/coal...

CCLA is sounding the alarm over the politicization of Alberta’s electoral map. Read more here. ccla.org/press-releas...

CCLA is appearing in court today as an intervenor to defend the rights of unhoused people living in encampments in Waterloo, Ontario. Read more here. ccla.org/press-releas...

Today on Charter Day, we celebrate the enduring promise of rights and freedoms in Canada. The Charter is more than a document—it’s a living commitment to dignity, equality, and justice for everyone. At CCLA, we continue to defend these rights, especially when they are at risk.

CCLA joins more than 130 diverse civil society leaders in calling on the B.C. government to halt proposed changes that would suspend key rights and protections under B.C.’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA). Read more here. www.wcel.org/declarationact

In a new op-ed in the Calgary Herald, CCLA Executive Director Howard Sapers argues that Alberta’s Bill 25 risks narrowing the space for open inquiry and critical thinking in classrooms. calgaryherald.com/opinion/colu...

The passage of Bill 9 is another example of the Quebec government’s ongoing attack on freedom of religion, freedom of expression, protest rights, and equality. Read more here. ccla.org/press-releas...

Bill 97 will carve out broad categories of records from Ontario’s right to information regime and insulate the government’s personal data handling from oversight, undermining privacy and public accountability. Read more: ccla.org/fundamental-...

Alberta’s new education bill entrenches censorship under the guise of neutrality, by restricting expression and centralizing decision-making power over what can be taught and discussed in schools. ccla.org/press-releas...

CCLA joined over 250 civil society organizations denouncing Ontario’s decision to defund the only remaining supervised consumption sites in a joint open letter to the Ontario government. Read more here. ccla.org/press-releas...

CCLA warned the University of Alberta about the dangers of dropping EDI considerations from recruitment and hiring policy. Instead of reconsidering or providing a strong defence for the policy change, they have gone ahead with this ill-advised and rights-cancelling move. ccla.org/press-releas...

A broad coalition of organizations, including CCLA, has denounced the passing of Bill C-12, which became law yesterday. This legislation marks a serious attack on refugee and migrant rights in Canada and has been criticized by the UN Human Rights Committee. ccla.org/press-releas...

New rules announced by the International Olympic Committee risk undermining the principle that sport is a human right. Policies that exclude athletes and authorize invasive testing have no place in a rights-respecting sporting system. ccla.org/press-releas...

Today marked the conclusion of a four-day hearing—one of the longest in the history of the Supreme Court of Canada—on Quebec’s Bill 21. Read more here. ccla.org/press-releas...

In this final video in our Bill 21 series, Mohamad Fahik (he/him) a Member of CCLA’s Board highlights why public engagement on these issues is so vital and ways you can take action if you’re concerned about the harms caused by Bill 21. youtube.com/shorts/NygFA...

CCLA has deep concerns with the Government of Alberta’s proposed Bill 18, which would significantly restrict access to medical assistance in dying (MAID) and undermine constitutionally protected rights. Read more here. ccla.org/press-releas...

CCLA Condemns Premier’s Challenge to Judicial Independence in Zameer Case

CCLA endorses the public policy recommendations in the ground-breaking report Unlawful Enforcers, concerning violations of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by major city police services in Ontario. Read more, and see the report, here. law.uwo.ca/research/res...

Le Devoir just published an op-ed by our Director of Fundamental Freedoms, Anaïs Bussières McNicoll, about our Bill 21 challenge at the Supreme Court of Canada. You can find a link to the op-ed here (French-only): www.ledevoir.com/opinion/idee...

La semaine prochaine, l'ACLC sera devant la Cour suprême du Canada contre la Loi 21 du Québec. Vous souhaitez en savoir plus sur ce débat historique? L'ACLC a préparé cette fiche d'information.

Next week, CCLA is at the Supreme Court of Canada to continue our challenge to Quebec’s Bill 21. Want to know more about the issue? CCLA has put together this helpful fact sheet.

Next week, we’re at the Supreme Court of Canada to continue our legal challenge to Quebec’s Bill 21. In this third video in our Bill 21 series, we examine the Quebec government’s use of the notwithstanding clauses to override fundamental rights and freedoms. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECPF...

Watch the testimony of Anaïs Bussières McNicoll, Director of our Fundamental Freedoms Program, at the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance as she highlights the deeply concerning new exemption powers introduced by Bill C-15. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Luz3...

The government is pushing Bill C-9 through. This should alarm every Canadian who cares about democratic practice and free expression.

CCLA sent a letter to the Ontario Attorney General raising concerns about democratic accountability amid the growing number of locally elected school boards being placed under ministerial supervision. You can learn more and read the letter here. ccla.org/press-releas...

The Senate of Canada will consider Bill C-14, sweeping criminal justice legislation on bail and sentencing, this week. CCLA is calling for them to scrutinize it. Read more here. ccla.org/press-releas...

CCLA welcomes the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Kanyinda v. Quebec (Attorney General), finding that Quebec’s exclusion of refugee claimants from subsidized daycare had a disproportionate adverse impact on women. Read more here. ccla.org/press-releas...

In two weeks Bill 21 will be before the Supreme Court of Canada. In this second video in our Bill 21 series, we focus on how the distorted version of secularism promoted in Bill 21 is incompatible with Quebec societal values. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ehm...

CCLA's Director of the Criminal Justice Program, Shakir Rahim, will join other experts tomorrow at 1 PM ET for a virtual webinar hosted by the John Howard Society on Bill C-14, the forthcoming federal bail and sentencing legislation. Register here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

In just 21 days, Quebec’s Bill 21 will be before the Supreme Court of Canada. In this first video of our series, we explain how Bill 21 sends a dangerous message of exclusion and why we are challenging it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NtR...

CCLA is opposing a proposal to give transit special constables in Ontario new arrest and detention powers, a move that risks criminalizing poverty and undermining Charter rights. Read more here. ccla.org/press-releas...

CCLA, Ecojustice, and the Quebec Center for Environmental Law, joined by more than 100 legal and civil society leaders, are warning that Bill C-15 would give federal ministers sweeping powers to exempt anyone from federal laws and regulations. Read more here. ccla.org/fundamental-...

CCLA and fellow advocates are deeply concerned by the Ontario government’s anti-democratic takeover of locally elected school boards. Read more here. ccla.org/press-releas...

CCLA will appear today as an intervener before the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Korduner. This case is about the scope of the principle against self-incrimination, which is a principle of fundamental justice under s. 7 of the Charter. ccla.org/press-releas...

CCLA is proud to have defended mobility rights and demanded government accountability at the Supreme Court of Canada. Read more here. ccla.org/press-releas...

Our statement on the Tumbler Ridge tragedy.

BCCLA, CCLA, and the Ligue des droits et libertés have written a letter asking the Alberta Minister of Justice to reconsider the decision to deny funding to the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre (ACLRC). Read more here. ccla.org/fundamental-...

CCLA is concerned by the federal government’s announcement that it is ending the mandates of the Special Envoys on Islamophobia and Antisemitism. Read more here. ccla.org/press-releas...

La directrice de notre programme de Libertés fondamentales Anaïs Bussières McNicoll était en commission parlementaire hier pour sonner l'alarme au sujet du Projet de loi 1 du Québec. Visionnez le témoignage ici: m.assnat.qc.ca/fr/video-aud...

February is Black History Month, a time to honour the histories, contributions, and ongoing struggles of Black communities in Canada.

CCLA is alarmed by the reported use of serious force by Durham Regional Police Service officers against defence lawyer Sudine Riley at the Oshawa Courthouse on January 23, 2026. Read more here. ccla.org/press-releas...

The law should apply equally to everyone, regardless of their wealth, power and status. On January 21, 2026, the CCLA joined more than 40 organizations in denouncing certain provisions in Bill C-15. Read more here. ccla.org/press-releas...