Prime Minister Mark Carney has told Liberal House leader Karina Gould to employ every procedural lever available to see the Algorithmic Decision Transparency Act (Bill C‑31) through its second reading before the House adjourns for the summer on Friday, two senior officials said on Tuesday.
What the bill contains
The legislation would establish a new federal oversight body, loosely modelled on the Privacy Commissioner’s office, but with the power to issue binding orders to federal departments that use automated decision‑making systems. It also creates, for the first time, a statutory right for Canadians to request a human review of any consequential federal decision made by an algorithm – for example, benefit assessments by Service Canada or risk‑flagging decisions by the Canada Border Services Agency.
The core provisions are:
- A public registry of every algorithmic decision system used by the federal government.
- Mandatory impact assessments for systems that affect benefits, immigration, taxation or border processing.
- A fourteen‑day window for individuals to ask for a human reviewer of an algorithmic decision.
- Administration of the registry by the Treasury Board Secretariat and a new oversight office to handle complaints and issue binding orders.
The bill does not extend to private‑sector AI; a separate, slower‑moving piece of legislation on that topic is expected in the autumn. It does, however, set a procurement standard that any vendor supplying AI tools to the Government of Canada must meet from 2027.
Political backdrop
The push follows comments from Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne, who told the standing committee on access to information that the government is operating at least nineteen distinct automated decision systems whose source code, training data and accuracy thresholds have never been shared with his office. He described the legislation as “overdue” and warned against letting it lapse a third time.
Bill C‑31 is a substantially redrafted version of the earlier Bill C‑27, which fell off the order paper in the final days of the Trudeau administration, and of a private‑member’s bill introduced by NDP MP Matthew Green. Officials in the Privy Council Office said the latest draft removed the most contentious carve‑out for national‑security agencies in order to win NDP support on confidence‑tied votes.
“The Prime Minister was unambiguous in caucus,” one Liberal MP, who asked to remain anonymous, said of the closed‑door meeting. “He wants this through second reading before we go home.”
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh declined to pledge his caucus, stating that his MPs are “reading the bill carefully” and that he wants to see whether the government will accept committee amendments that would narrow ministerial discretion in clause 14. The Bloc Québécois, whose support is not required for a second reading, has signalled it will vote in favour, citing Quebec’s Law 25 as a model.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre dismissed the proposal as “another layer of paperwork for a government that can't even run its own pension cheques on time,” and has instructed his caucus to oppose the second reading.
Timing and next steps
If the government retains the floor for the remainder of the week, MPs are expected to sit until 10 p.m. on Thursday, with a vote on second reading slated for around 8 p.m. Senate sources indicate the upper chamber will consider the bill in the autumn rather than rush it before the recess.
One official summed up the strategy: “Second reading is the signal we care. The rest is for September. We just need to be the party that moved.” The details were first reported by a parliamentary source.