🍁 civid v1

What the bill does

• Bill C-275 would add section 163.01 to the Criminal Code, creating offences involving visual recordings that explicitly and realistically depict non-consensual sexual intercourse or other sexual activity that violates a person’s sexual integrity.
• It would affect people who make, publish, distribute, possess or access such material. The bill was at first reading on April 28, 2026.

Proposed offences and penalties

• Making or publishing: Knowingly making, printing, publishing or possessing the material for publication would be an indictable offence, punishable by up to 14 years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to $100,000, or both.
• Distribution and related activities: Knowingly transmitting, making available, distributing, selling, advertising, importing or exporting the material—or possessing it for specified related purposes—would carry the same maximum penalties.
• Possession: Knowing possession would be punishable on indictment by up to five years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to $50,000, or both. On summary conviction, the maximum would be two years less a day, a $20,000 fine, or both.
• Accessing: Knowingly causing the material to be viewed by or transmitted to oneself would be punishable on indictment by up to 10 years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to $50,000, or both. The summary-conviction maximum would be two years less a day, a $20,000 fine, or both.

Sentencing and defences

• A court would have to treat an intent to make a profit as an aggravating factor when sentencing a person convicted under the new section.
• For a charge of making or publishing material, belief that the depicted activity was consensual would not be a defence unless the accused took all reasonable steps to ascertain consent and, if the activity was consensual, to ensure the material did not depict it as non-consensual.
• A person could not be convicted under the new section if the conduct had a legitimate purpose related to the administration of justice, science, medicine, education or art.