C-270Stopping Internet Sexual Exploitation Act
An Act to amend the Criminal Code (pornographic material)
Private member's bill, introduced in the House of Commons on April 28, 2022
- Status
- At report stage in the House of Commons since November 19, 2024
What it does
Creates Criminal Code offences for making, selling or advertising commercial pornographic material without checking age and written consent of everyone shown.
What it does
- Creates an offence for making pornographic material for commercial purposes without first confirming that everyone shown was 18 or older and gave written consent.
- Creates an offence for distributing or advertising pornographic material for commercial purposes without written confirmation from the maker about each person’s age, consent and any later written withdrawal of consent.
- Sets penalties of up to two years in prison or a $500,000 fine on indictment, or a $100,000 fine on summary conviction.
- Presumes a corporation acted for commercial purposes unless it proves otherwise, and limits the age-belief defence unless age was checked with a federal, provincial or foreign ID, or other prescribed document, and it was reasonably believed to be real.
- Requires courts to treat a minor’s image, lack of consent to the sexual activity, obscenity, or hate promotion as aggravating factors when sentencing.
- Allows courts to ban Internet use, require removal of the material from the Internet or the offender’s computer system, and lets the Governor in Council set ID and record-keeping rules.
Who it affects
- People who make pornographic material
- Pornography distributors and advertisers
- Pornography companies
- People depicted in pornographic material
Where it is
House of Commons
First reading
Completed.
Second reading
Completed.
Committee
Completed.
Report stage
Current stage. Now here
Third reading
Not reached.
Senate
First reading
Not reached.
Second reading
Not reached.
Committee
Not reached.
Third reading
Not reached.
Royal assent
Royal assent
Not reached.
Introduced by an MP who is not a minister. These bills compete in a lottery for debate time, and most do not become law. How a bill becomes law
How the House voted
2nd reading of Bill C-270, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (pornographic material)
Vote 758,
Passed
327 yeato0 nay · 2 paired
Party breakdown for vote 758 Party Position Yea Nay Did not vote Liberal Yea 152 0 4 Conservative Yea 117 0 1 Bloc Yea 31 0 1 NDP Yea 22 0 2 Green Yea 2 0 0 Independent Yea 3 0 0 Total 327 0
What MPs said
Each party’s first speech on this bill in the House, from Hansard. Excerpts are the speaker’s opening sentences, unedited.
LiberalKevin Lamoureux· April 9, 2024
“I was hoping to get clarification from the member on Bill C-270. He may be thrown off a little because of Bill C-63, which I believe will be of greater benefit than Bill C-270.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caConservativeArnold Viersen· April 28, 2022
“Moved for leave to introduce Bill C-270, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (pornographic material). I want to thank the hon. member for Calgary Shepard for seconding this bill today.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caBlocMarie-Hélène Gaudreau· April 9, 2024
“I am calling on my colleagues to refer this bill to committee so that it may be improved and become an example to the world. We must no longer allow sexual exploitation.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caNDPRandall Garrison· April 9, 2024
“New Democrats support, as all parties do, tackling the important issues that the bill before us seeks to tackle. We also know that there has been an explosion of sexual exploitation of individuals online without their consent and an explosion of child pornography.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.ca
Read the source
LEGISinfo status: At report stage in the House of Commons. Bill data from LEGISinfo, votes from openparliament.ca and the House of Commons. Last updated October 13, 2026.