AI & Human Authenticity
Right to Be Forgotten Law in Canada: Does It Exist Yet?
HAR Editorial Team
You found an old news story, a mugshot, or a post you regret, and you want it gone from Google. In Canada, the question of whether you can force that is murkier than most people expect. The right to b...
Right to Be Forgotten Law in Canada: Does It Exist Yet?
You found an old news story, a mugshot, or a post you regret, and you want it gone from Google. In Canada, the question of whether you can force that is murkier than most people expect. The right to be forgotten law in Canada is not a single statute you can point to, and the answer depends on where you live and what kind of information is involved.
Here is the short version. Canada has no standalone, nationwide right to be forgotten like the one in the EU's GDPR. But Google right to be forgotten Canada requests are not hopeless. The Privacy Commissioner has taken the position that PIPEDA can require search engines to de-list some results, and that position is now being tested in court. Quebec's private-sector law adds its own de-indexing and erasure mechanism. Freedom of expression sits on the other side of the scale.
This article walks through what PIPEDA says, how Quebec's Law 25 differs, what recent court and Commissioner developments mean, and how regulators weigh privacy against the public's right to know. At the Human Authenticity Registry, we care about consent and control over your identity, so we look at where the law helps and where it leaves gaps.
Why the right to be forgotten matters in Canada
The internet does not forget
A court record, a local news item, or a forum post can sit in search results for decades. Canada has ways to move on, such as record suspensions for old convictions, but those programs do not reach copies already indexed online. That gap is why the right to be forgotten law Canada debate exists at all.
Search engines make the problem sharper. Anyone can type your name and see the worst moment of your life ranked first. Employers, landlords, and new acquaintances do exactly that, and Canadians cannot lean on the EU's GDPR to push back.
Legal forgiveness means little if a search for your name still brings up the old story.
Who feels the harm most
The people hurt most are rarely public figures. Ordinary people with one bad headline carry the heaviest load. Typical cases include:
People acquitted or never charged, whose arrest coverage was never updated
Individuals with pardoned or suspended records that still surface in search
Victims of doxxing, leaked images, or defamatory posts
Adults haunted by things they posted as minors
Each case follows a pattern. The information may once have been accurate or newsworthy, but its ongoing visibility now outweighs its public value. That is the core of the argument for de-listing, and it is also why Canadian regulators and courts treat every request as a balancing exercise rather than an automatic right.
How to request removal of personal information in Canada
Start at the source, then go to Google
Begin with the website that hosts the content. Removal at the source is the only fix that truly deletes it, so ask the publisher to delete, anonymize, or update the page. Keep a copy of every message you send.
If the site says no, submit a request through Google's legal removal form. Google does not apply a right to be forgotten law in Canada the way it does in Europe, so describe the concrete harm and explain why the information is outdated, inaccurate, or no longer relevant.
Fix the source first, then ask the search engine to stop pointing at it.
Escalate to a regulator
Should Google or the publisher refuse, you still have three escalation routes, and filing a regulator complaint costs nothing:
Complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada under PIPEDA.
In Quebec, file with the Commission d'accès à l'information.
Talk to a privacy lawyer about a court application.
What PIPEDA and the Google court rulings say
What PIPEDA actually says
PIPEDA never uses the phrase "right to be forgotten." Still, its principles on accuracy and limited retention give regulators something to work with. The Privacy Commissioner argues those principles can support de-listing, so the right to be forgotten law in Canada exists mainly as an interpretation, not as written text.
PIPEDA has no erasure clause, so de-listing depends on how courts read its existing principles.
What the courts have decided
Three rulings shape the debate, and only one is squarely about search results and privacy.
Ruling | What it means for you |
|---|---|
Google Inc. v. Equustek (2017 SCC 34) | Canadian courts can order Google to de-index worldwide, though the case involved trade secrets, not privacy |
A.T. v. Globe24h.com (2017 FC 114) | PIPEDA reached a foreign site that republished Canadian court decisions, and removal was ordered |
Federal Court reference on Google (2025) | Found that search indexing is commercial activity under PIPEDA and that the journalistic exception did not shield Google. Google appealed |
Read together, these point one way. De-listing orders are possible but narrow, so confirm the current status of the appeal before you rely on the reference.
Quebec law and pending federal reform
Quebec already has a statutory right
Quebec comes closest to a true right to be forgotten law in Canada. Since September 2023, Law 25 has let you demand de-indexation or cessation of dissemination of personal information when it causes serious injury to your reputation or privacy. The injury must outweigh the public's interest in knowing and freedom of expression. Decision-makers weigh factors like these:
Your notoriety and whether you are a public figure
Whether the information concerns a minor
How old, accurate, and sensitive it is
Whether it relates to a criminal proceeding or a pardon
Quebec is the one place in Canada where de-indexing is written into statute.
Federal reform has stalled
Bill C-27 would have replaced PIPEDA with stronger disposal rights, but it died on the order paper when Parliament was prorogued in January 2025. Outside Quebec, you still depend on PIPEDA and the Commissioner's interpretation of it. Check the Parliament of Canada's bill list for any new privacy legislation before you assume anything has changed.
How Canada balances privacy and free expression
Where free expression pushes back
Section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects freedom of expression, and it shapes every de-listing debate. Publishers argue that a broad right to be forgotten law in Canada could let people erase accurate reporting from public view.
PIPEDA builds in its own limit. It does not cover organizations that handle personal information solely for journalistic, artistic, or literary purposes. The 2025 Federal Court reference held that this exception did not shield Google, but because of the appeal, the question is not settled.
Privacy and expression are weighed case by case, and neither wins automatically.
What tips the balance
Requests succeed more often when they are narrow. Asking Google to de-list name searches is easier to justify than asking a court to delete an article. A regulator treats this as a sliding scale, so the more of these traits you can show, the stronger your case:
You are a private individual, not a public figure
The information is old, inaccurate, or about a minor
The harm is serious and specific
The story has little current public interest
Where Canada stands today
So does a right to be forgotten law in Canada exist yet? Only in part. Quebec's Law 25 gives you a statutory right to de-indexation, while the rest of the country relies on PIPEDA and the Privacy Commissioner's reading of it. Federal reform stalled with Bill C-27, and the Google appeal keeps the key question open.
Your best approach is practical. Ask the publisher first, then Google, then a regulator. Keep your request narrow and document the harm, because you should expect a case-by-case balance against free expression, not an automatic win.
Removing the past is only one side of protecting your privacy and controlling your identity. If you also want to prove you are a real person on your own terms, you can register with the Human Authenticity Registry and become a founding member in about 10 minutes from your phone.