Canada Launches Children’s Privacy Code Requiring Parental Consent Under 13

Sourced from 1 news outlet and 1 primary source · most facts from Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada · no points in dispute. How we sourced this

Canada’s first Children’s Privacy Code establishes practical expectations for how organizations handle the personal information of children and teens online.

Key facts

• The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada launched Canada’s first Children’s Privacy Code to create a safer, more transparent online environment for children and teens.
• The Code sets practical expectations for organizations that collect, use, or disclose children’s personal information under Canadian privacy law.
• Organizations must obtain meaningful consent, including parental consent for children under 13 and opt-in consent for non-essential data uses.
• The Code requires organizations to provide children a practical way to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information and to delete their personal information.

Read the original document: Government of Canada, linked by flamboroughtoday.com and techtimes.com.

Launched by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the Code is intended to create a safer, more transparent digital environment while helping young people use technology to explore, connect, learn and grow without compromising their privacy or security.

Consent Must Be Meaningful

The Code sets practical expectations under Canadian privacy law for organizations that collect, use or disclose children’s personal information.

That begins with meaningful consent. Organizations must obtain parental consent for children under 13 and opt-in consent when they want to use a child’s data for purposes that are not essential to the service.

Children must also have a practical way to correct personal information that is inaccurate or incomplete, and to delete their information.

Privacy Settings Start Switched Off

The Code requires privacy by default, reversing a familiar digital experience in which users are often expected to hunt down and disable data-sharing settings themselves.

Location tracking, profile visibility and third-party data sharing must be automatically off. The expectation is that children and teens should actively choose whether to enable those features.

Limits on Profiling and Manipulation

Organizations are expected to avoid profiling children for marketing, including targeted and behavioural advertising. The Code also says children’s information should not be used for AI-driven decision-making.

It further prohibits deceptive design practices, often called dark patterns, that influence, manipulate or coerce children into handing over more personal information than necessary. Such practices cannot be used to exploit children’s vulnerabilities.

Code guidance and public consultation

According to Techtimes, the Code was formally launched Oct. 20, 2026, in Gatineau, Que. Techtimes also reports that it is guidance issued under Canada’s existing federal privacy statute rather than legislation, meaning non-compliance does not currently carry automatic fines.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is accepting comments on the Code until Jan. 20, 2027. The OPC Youth Council, made up of seven students aged 14 to 17, helped develop a simplified, youth-friendly version of the Code.

How outlets covered it

• flamboroughtoday.com — “Children’s Privacy Code to support strong online protections for youth”, Oct. 20, 2026
• techtimes.com — “Canada Bans Behavioral Ads Targeting Kids: Privacy Code Puts Platforms on Notice”, Oct. 21, 2026. By Clayton Lewis. Quoted Code. Not in the other reports here: proposed Bill C-36 financial penalties; TikTok’s annual banning of approximately 500,000 underage accounts.

How we sourced this story

Also used

• News release: Privacy Commissioner of Canada launches Children’s Privacy Code to support strong online protections for youth — Government of Canada, Oct. 20, 2026 (official statement)

How we put this together: we compare reporting from the outlets above, draft with the help of AI tools, and an editor checks every story before it's published. Our methodology.