October 15, 2025 Compliance 3 min read

Canada's Privacy Landscape: What Small Businesses Need to Know

By Cybersecurity Canada Editorial Team | Published October 15, 2025

If you run a small or medium business in Canada, privacy law applies to you. Many business owners assume privacy regulations are only for large corporations, but that's not the case. Here's what you need to understand.

PIPEDA: The Federal Standard

The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) is Canada's federal privacy law. It applies to any private-sector organization that collects, uses, or discloses personal information in the course of commercial activity.

This means if your business collects customer names, email addresses, payment information, or employee data, PIPEDA likely applies to you.

PIPEDA is built on 10 fair information principles, including:

• Accountability — Your organization is responsible for personal information under its control
• Consent — Individuals must know about and consent to the collection of their data
• Limiting collection — Only collect information that is necessary for identified purposes
• Safeguards — Protect personal information with security measures appropriate to its sensitivity

Provincial Privacy Laws

Three provinces have their own private-sector privacy legislation that has been deemed substantially similar to PIPEDA:

• Alberta — Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA)
• British Columbia — Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA)
• Quebec — Act Respecting the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector (Law 25)

If your business operates in these provinces, the provincial law applies to activities within the province, while PIPEDA applies to interprovincial and international activities.

Quebec's Law 25, which has been rolling out in phases since 2022, is particularly significant. It introduced stricter consent requirements, mandatory privacy impact assessments, and the right to data portability.

Mandatory Breach Reporting

Since November 2018, PIPEDA requires organizations to:

1. Report breaches of security safeguards involving personal information to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if there is a real risk of significant harm
2. Notify affected individuals about the breach
3. Keep records of all breaches, regardless of whether they meet the reporting threshold

Failure to comply can result in fines of up to $100,000 per violation.

What Canadian SMBs Should Do

If you haven't reviewed your privacy practices recently, start with these steps:

• Know what you collect — Inventory the personal information your business holds, where it's stored, and who has access
• Review your consent practices — Are customers clearly informed about how their data is used?
• Have a breach response plan — Know who to contact and what steps to follow if personal information is compromised
• Secure your data — Technical safeguards like encryption, access controls, and multi-factor authentication protect both your customers and your compliance standing

Our free assessment evaluates your organization against the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security's Baseline Controls, including data protection and access control measures that directly support your privacy obligations.

Further Reading

• Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada — PIPEDA guidance and breach reporting
• PIPEDA Fair Information Principles — The 10 principles in detail