Canada Proposes 'Super-Regulator' With Billion-Dollar Penalty Powers

Canada is moving toward the creation of a digital technology "super-regulator" capable of imposing massive financial penalties on companies, according to reporting from BetaKit.

Speaking at the ALL IN AI conference in Montréal on Wednesday, AI and digital innovation minister Evan Solomon stated that the government is establishing a regulator "with teeth" for the first time in the country's history. Solomon noted that the body would not merely "name and shame" firms but would hold big tech companies accountable for abusive behavior with fines reaching into the billions of dollars.

As part of an update to privacy laws, Solomon proposed the Canadian Digital Safety Commission. This body would hold a broad mandate covering private sector privacy issues and the implementation of the Safe Social Media Act. BetaKit reports that if the act becomes law, the regulator could issue binding orders and monetary penalties of up to $10 million or three percent of a company's global revenue, marking a shift from the authority held by Canada's current privacy regulator.

Regarding hardware and infrastructure, Solomon indicated that the federal government will announce the organization responsible for building Canada's public AI supercomputer early this fall. While the federal government recently released a data centre framework that suggests responsible development guidelines without mandating them, Solomon noted that provincial regulators have the ability to create rules with "more legislative teeth" for data centres.