Age Verification in Canada: Laws, Requirements, and Business Implications

Zarema Plaksij

Copywriter

In Canada, the push to protect children from age-restricted content and products has been gaining momentum. While Canadians value their digital privacy, a public demand for online platforms to take greater responsibility for the safety of young users has surged in recent polls. This trend is further supported by the latest statistical findings, which show that 99.2% of Canadians aged 15–24 use the internet, which is well above the national average of 94.5%.

If your business operates in or is expanding into the Canadian market, especially in high-risk categories like gambling, adult content, or sales of age-restricted goods, age verification is something you need to understand now and figure out how to implement it without losing your customers in a sea of friction.

Is Age Verification Required in Canada?

First, let’s start by underlining that (at the moment) Canada does not have a single age verification law that applies to every website or app. Instead, there is a patchwork of sector-specific rules, provincial regulations, and rapidly evolving expectations from the governmental regulators.

But what does it mean in practice? For example, businesses that offer restricted products/services (for example, offer gambling services or provide age-restricted content) already face stringent legal obligations, while others operate in a space where age verification regulations are rapidly evolving.

In particular, online gambling platforms regulated in Ontario under the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) are legally required to verify that players are of legal age before they can place a bet. The same rule applies to online alcohol and cannabis retailers, where provincial rules set clear minimum age thresholds. 

One thing is clear: the Canadian government is moving away from the age-declaration (self-attestation) system, where a user simply clicks “I am 18”, towards age assurance. This means regulators now expect businesses to have “reasonable grounds” to believe a user is of age, especially when dealing with:

• Sexually explicit or adult-oriented content, especially containing pornographic material 
• Social media platforms with high young people’s (minors) engagement
• E-commerce involving age-restricted goods (vapes, alcohol, etc.)

Thus, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) stipulates: if your service carries a risk of harm to minors, “clicking a box” is no longer a defensible compliance strategy. 

Police-reported online child sexual exploitation incidents in Canada rose to 19,516 in 2023 – a 59% increase in rate compared with 2022. Source

Age Verification Laws in Canada

Canada’s regulatory environment is a mix of active federal bills and provincial mandates.

Federal Laws Already in Use

• The Tobacco and Vaping Products Act prohibits selling tobacco or vaping products to a young person (under 18) in public places or sending for delivery. This law, however, states that a business is protected if it has made a genuine effort to check the customers age using a valid ID. In case of tobacco/vaping products delivery, it’s mandatory for the delivery person to check the recipient’s ID with name, photo, date of birth, and signature. 
• The Cannabis Act requires provinces that authorize cannabis sales to include measures such as not selling cannabis to “young persons” (under the threshold age of 18). The Act also prohibits selling a cannabis accessory to a young person unless they took reasonable steps to verify age.

Proposed Federal Laws and Initiatives

Bill S-210 (Bill S-209) – the Protecting Young Persons from Exposure to Pornography Act, aims to make it a criminal offense for businesses to make sexually explicit material available to minors for commercial purposes, unless the operator uses an approved age verification method. 

If enacted, the Bill will empower authorities to order Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block websites that fail to implement “reliable age-verification” methods. And the fines for non-compliance are set to be $250,000 for a first offence and $500,000 for subsequent offences.

Here is how the Bill describes the age verification approaches to be used:

• the method must be highly effective, 
• operated by a third party at arm’s length, 
• designed to maintain privacy, minimize collection, 
• personal information must be destroyed once verification is complete.

In December 2023, Bill S-210 passed the Senate and cleared its second reading in the House of Commons, but was suspended in January 2025. Reintroduced in May 2025 as Bill S-209, the legislation is now updated to include age estimation technologies as a verification option and a narrower definition of sexually explicit content. As of March 2026, Bill S‑209 is being considered in the Canadian Senate. 

Bill C‑63 – the Online Harms Act, requires online platforms to integrate design features that reduce the risk of children being exposed to harmful content. While it doesn’t always mandate a hard “ID check” for every user, it forces platforms to prove they are effectively keeping children out of adult-only spaces.

Even though Bill C-63 did not become law, it signals where regulation may head next. The Department of Justice described the bill as imposing a duty to act responsibly on operators of regulated services, requiring measures to mitigate the risk of exposure to harmful content online.

CAN/DGSI 127:2025, Age Assurance Technologies – Canada’s first national standard for age assurance was published by the Digital Governance Standards Institute (DGSI) and accredited by the Standards Council of Canada in 2025. It sets out minimum requirements for the design and deployment of age verification technologies and age estimation systems, including mandatory Child Rights Impact Assessments, Privacy by Design principles, and data minimization obligations. 

Global Snapshot: How Canada Compares

Canada’s newest age verification evolution is not happening in a vacuum, but rather reflects a global trend: governments are moving from “parental controls” toward imposing duties and responsibilities on digital platforms via robust age assurance mechanisms. Let’s compare Canada’s legal requirements to other world jurisdictions. 

Industries That Require Age Verification in Canada

Age verification requirements are already live and enforced in several key industries. 

Online gambling. Provincial regulators in Canada have clear, enforceable rules. In Ontario, the AGCO requires that all players creating accounts on licensed platforms must be verified as at least 19 years old and 18 for lottery games. 

iGaming. Video games and apps is a growing area of concern. While Canadian-specific rules for gaming platforms are still developing, platforms that operate globally already face requirements in the UK and EU. iGaming Ontario requires operators to verify the name, date of birth, and address of every player before they can even deposit funds.

Adult content and streaming platforms. Although these business sectors receive the most attention from legislators, there is currently no binding federal law. But if Bill S-209 is passed, it would require commercial adult content platforms to implement approved age verification systems before allowing any access to sexually explicit material. 

Cannabis, tobacco, and alcohol e-commerce. Both online and physical retailers are subject to hard age requirements. Since the legalization of cannabis, the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority (LGCA) and similar provincial bodies require age verification both at the point of sale and at the time of delivery. Most provinces set the minimum age at 19, with the exception of Quebec (18 for alcohol, 21 for cannabis), Alberta, and Manitoba (18 for both). Retailers who fail to verify age face regulatory action and potential liability. 

How Age Verification Works

The new Canadian national standard CAN/DGSI 127:2025 uses the broader term “age assurance” to capture the full range of age verification methods. Let’s recap the most common age detection technologies and verification methods:

1. Document-based verification. The user uploads a government-issued ID, such as a passport or a driver’s license. Then, the system scans and validates the document against known templates, checks security features, and extracts age information. Although this method offers high assurance, it also adds friction as users may be uncomfortable uploading sensitive documents to third-party services. 
2. Biometric and facial age estimation. A user takes a selfie or short video, and AI analyses facial features to estimate an age range. The system does not identify the person. Instead, it only predicts whether they are likely over or under a threshold age. This method is favored by Canada’s privacy advocates because it can determine if someone is 18+ without ever knowing who they are.
3. Database checks. The user’s declared details, such as name, date of birth, and address, are cross-referenced with trusted third-party databases, like credit bureaus or government registries. This method is less intrusive than document upload, but it relies on the accuracy and coverage of the underlying data.
4. Credit card or bank verification. Using a card or bank account as a proxy for age, since only adults can hold these instruments. Simple and low-friction, but not foolproof, as minors may gain access to parents’ cards.
5. Mobile network operator authentication. The user’s mobile provider confirms their age from the subscriber record. This method is used in the UK as an Ofcom-recognized age assurance method under the Online Safety Act.
6. Parental consent flows. Used particularly for services aimed at younger users, where a parent or guardian confirms the child’s age and provides consent for account creation – a mechanism already required under Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) for children under 13.
7. Multi-layered age assurance. Many mature online services don’t pick one method, they combine several. For example, a low-friction screen first, like self-declaration or estimation, can be followed by a stronger check when risk increases, for example before purchase, withdrawal, or accessing explicit content categories. This method matches Canada’s Office of Privacy Commissioner’s direction toward proportionality and risk-based implementation.

Privacy and Data Protection Considerations

In Canada, privacy is a right, not a feature. And age assurance is a compliance win only if it doesn’t create a privacy disaster. Let’s zoom in on the main privacy and data protection rules in Canada. 

PIPEDA and local laws shape what you can collect

Any business collecting data for age verification must comply with PIPEDA, which sets out 10 fair information principles that govern how private-sector organizations should collect, use, and disclose personal data, including the data gathered during age checks.

Key things that PIPEDA addresses:

• Consent. You must obtain meaningful consent for the collection and use of personal data. For children under 13, the position of the OPC of Canada is that parental consent is required in almost all cases.
• Limiting collection. You may only collect the minimum personal information necessary for the purpose, so gathering a full ID scan when a simple age confirmation would suffice is problematic.
• Limiting use and retention. Data collected for age verification cannot then be repurposed for marketing or profiling. It must be deleted once the check is complete.
• Safeguards. Organizations must protect personal data against loss, theft, or unauthorized access – a critical obligation when handling sensitive documents or biometric data.

The OPC of Canada also notes that Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec have their own private-sector privacy laws deemed substantially similar to PIPEDA, which affects which law applies depending on a business’ operations.

89% of Canadians express concern about personal privacy, and 36% say they are extremely concerned. Source

Biometric data is considered high sensitivity information

In addition, biometric age verification received heightened protection from the OPC, which states that biometric information that can uniquely identify a person is sensitive information, and that biometric information can be sensitive even if retained only briefly. For example, a face system generating a numerical representation of facial features, even if deleted within milliseconds.

The OPC’s guidance on the use of biometric data is as follows:

• Define a legitimate need – no speculative collection
• Prove effectiveness – accuracy, error rates, resistance to circumvention
• Use minimal intrusiveness – ask whether there is a less intrusive alternative available 
• Limit retention and avoid overly broad databases – permanently destroy biometric data when no longer needed

EXAMPLE: An adult streaming platform wants to implement facial age estimation. Under Canadian regulations, the platform must ensure that the face scan is processed by an independent third party, is not linked to the content the user accesses, and is deleted immediately after the check and not stored for future use or shared with advertisers. 

Privacy-by-design is part of age verification laws

Canada’s Bill S‑209 proposes that prescribed age-verification/estimation methods must, among other things, collect only what is strictly necessary and destroy personal information once verification is completed.

So, instead of storing a copy of a user’s driver’s license, the privacy-by-design approach mandates storing a simple outcome, such as “over 19 confirmed” plus a timestamp and audit log, thus keeping identity documents out of your main systems unless you truly need them for a regulated purpose.

Challenges Businesses Face

Getting age verification right is harder than it sounds. Here are the most common pain points businesses working in Canada encounter.

By far, the biggest commercial concerns are user friction and drop-offs. Any additional step in the user journey, especially one that requires document uploads or selfies, can make some users feel uneasy and even abandon the process. Research shows that traffic to compliant adult sites dropped when age checks were introduced, with some users migrating to non-compliant alternatives. 

The key challenge is to make verification fast, trustworthy, and as low-friction as possible. What businesses need to do is match friction to risk: don’t over-collect when the risk is low, but don’t under-protect when the risk is high.

The next challenge is fraud and document forgery. Sophisticated fake IDs, synthetic identities, and credential-sharing between users (when an adult shares their verified account with a younger sibling) can undermine even well-designed systems. And the OPC’s biometrics guidance warns that biometric systems can be vulnerable to spoofing and deepfake-style attacks, reinforcing the need for strong safeguards and incident readiness. Therefore, the DGSI standard requires that age verification systems be “robust” and resistant to common bypass methods.

Provincial complexity adds another layer. The legal gambling age in Ontario is 19, but it’s 18 in Quebec and Alberta. Cannabis age thresholds also vary. Provincial driver’s license formats differ. A system designed for one province may not correctly validate an ID from another. And if you also serve the UK, EU, or US, you’ll have to deal with a quickly evolving global legal patchwork, like the UK’s “highly effective” age assurance expectations for pornography or the EU DSA child-safety measures.

Finally, it’s the VPN bypass problem. Tech-savvy minors often use VPNs to bypass Canadian geo-blocks, making regional compliance difficult for platforms. VPNs allow users to access a service from a different jurisdiction and easily evade geo-based restrictions or age verification requirements. This doesn’t eliminate the case for age verification, but it does mean that no single solution is 100% effective.

What This Means for Businesses in Canada

Even if your business is not yet under a hard legal obligation, Canada’s regulatory direction is unmistakable. So, for most B2B operators, the practical message is to get ready now, because requirements are trending toward greater clarity, stricter enforcement, and greater enforceability.

Practically speaking, here is what the current legal environment means for you:

Legislative and regulatory pressure

• Active legislation: Canada’s Bill S-209 is currently moving through the Senate, indicating that federal online harms legislation is a high priority.
• Provincial enforcement: Regulators in the gambling and alcohol sectors are already enforcing strict age-verification requirements.
• Proactive compliance: Businesses in age-sensitive or restricted-content sectors are advised to design for compliance immediately rather than waiting for laws to be finalized.

The role of national standards

• CAN/DGSI 127:2025: While not currently legally binding, this standard sets the “reasonable” baseline that regulators will likely use to judge business conduct.
• Policy Influence: Regulators are already referencing this standard in policy discussions, so alignment now offers a stronger legal defense later.

Global market obligations

• UK Online Safety Act: As of July 2025, adult content providers face fines up to £18 million or 10% of global turnover for failing to implement effective age checks.
• EU Digital Services Act: Businesses serving the European market must already comply with strict age-related regulations.
• Universal strategy: Organizations need a cross-border age verification approach that satisfies both Canadian and international legal frameworks.

Focus on children’s privacy

• Strategic priority: The OPC’s 2024–27 Strategic Plan explicitly targets children’s privacy, with a dedicated privacy code currently under development.
• Incidental collection: Any organization that collects data from or about children (even unintentionally) must review its data practices immediately.

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How to Choose an Age Verification Solution

When evaluating age verification providers, businesses should consider several factors beyond just technical capabilities. Here is a checklist you can use when assessing an age verification solution for your business needs:

Start with the basics

• Have you clearly mapped your legal obligations and risk exposure by market and product?
• Are you choosing the age assurance technology based on those risks (not the other way around)?

Regulatory fit and configurability

• Can the solution support different age thresholds (18, 19, 21 years)?
• Can you adjust rules by province/territory (for example: cannabis laws in Canada)?
• Is it flexible enough to adapt to future regulatory changes?

Evidence-based accuracy and effectiveness

• Does the provider share measurable accuracy rates and error metrics?
• Are their results independently tested or validated, i.e., aligned with NIST-style evaluations?
• Do you understand the limitations of each method, especially AI-based age estimation?

Privacy by design

• Does the solution follow data minimization principles, i.e., collect only what’s necessary?
• Does the solution comply with PIPEDA (and Quebec’s Law 25 if applicable)?
• Are there clear policies for data retention and deletion that ensure user privacy?
• Are strong security safeguards in place for sensitive data, like biometrics or ID checks?
• Can the system avoid storing data longer than needed, especially for restricted content use cases?

Risk-based flows

• Can you apply lighter checks for low-risk scenarios?
• Can you trigger stronger verification when risk increases, for example, high-value transactions?
• Does the system support a layered or step-up approach?

Operational readiness

• Does the solution provide audit logs and traceability?
• Can you define and enforce data retention schedules?
• Are there clear processes for incident and breach response?
• Do you have visibility and control over vendor performance and compliance?

Use-case fit

• Have you identified your highest-risk user moments, such as onboarding, checkout, and delivery?
• Does the solution align with your industry-specific risks, for example, regulated goods vs. content platforms?
• Can it support future scaling or stricter rules if regulations evolve?

This checklist can help you ensure you’re not just picking a tool, but building a solution that’s compliant, scalable, and practical for real-world use. 

Naturally, the right age verification solution for you will depend on your specific business sector, user base, and risk profile. What matters most is that your approach is documented, proportionate, privacy-respecting, and aligned with the direction of Canadian law.

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Published April 14, 2026

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