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Purpose and status

• Bill C-257 would amend the Criminal Code to create an offence of wilfully promoting a terrorist activity, a terrorist group, or an activity of a terrorist group.
• The bill was at first reading on November 17, 2025.

New offence

• Anyone who wilfully promotes one of those activities or groups by communicating statements would be guilty of an indictable offence, punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment.
• An offence could be committed whether the statements relate specifically or generally to the activity or group, and whether or not they actually encouraged or instigated anyone to participate.
• The bill uses the meanings of “communicating” and “statements” already found in subsection 319(7) of the Criminal Code.

Defences

A person could not be convicted if:

• They establish that the statements were true.
• In good faith, they expressed or tried to establish by argument an opinion on a religious subject or based on a belief in a religious text.
• The statements were relevant to a subject of public interest, their discussion was for the public benefit, and the person believed on reasonable grounds that they were true.
• In good faith, they intended to point out the promoting material for the purpose of removing it.

Other Criminal Code changes

• The bill would add the new offence to the Code’s definition of a terrorism offence.
• It would extend an existing consecutive-sentencing provision to sentences for the new offence, other than life sentences.
• It would add the new offence to the definition of “offence” in section 183 of the Code. The provided text does not describe the effect of that definition.

Costs and timing

• The provided text does not specify costs or a coming-into-force date.