Canada enacts criminal code reforms to ban forced sterilization and strengthen violence protections

In June 2025 the Canadian Parliament passed two major amendments to the Criminal Code. Bill S‑228, which received Royal Assent on June 15, makes forced or coerced sterilisation an aggravated assault punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Survivor Silvia Mckay, who was sterilised without consent in 2001 at Saskatoon’s Royal University Hospital, testified as the bill passed. The Survivors Circle for Reproductive Justice estimates that about 15,000 Indigenous people have been sterilised without consent since the 1890s and is now working with the federal government on implementation, including the removal of the “R” identifier from Saskatchewan health cards.

A second amendment, the Protecting Victims Act (Bill C‑16), was signed into law on June 18 and largely came into force on July 18. It creates a first‑degree murder offence for femicide, introduces a new offence of coercive control, expands harassment provisions, criminalises the non‑consensual distribution of intimate images (including deepfakes), and raises maximum penalties for sexual assault and voyeurism. The changes aim to give law‑enforcement earlier tools to intervene in gender‑based and intimate‑partner violence, a need highlighted by the 2025 killing of Bailey McCourt in British Columbia.