Question Period Note: Online Child Sexual Exploitation

• Online child sexual exploitation (OCSE) is one of the digital age’s most pressing safety issues that continues to increase in terms of scope, reach and impacts.

• The online sexual exploitation of children is a devastating crime that inflicts lifelong suffering on victims and survivors.
• The Government of Canada is dedicated to safeguarding children from all forms of sexual exploitation and that is why we are making significant investments in the National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet (National Strategy). Key actions include:
o Addressing emerging trends like sextortion and generative AI.
o Strengthening partnerships with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, to enable tools like Cybertip to report suspected cases of online child sexual exploitation and Project Arachnid to combat the proliferation of child sexual abuse material.
o Enhancing programs and services for victims and survivors.
o Strengthening law enforcement capacity to investigate crimes.
o Enhancing coordination through a Federal Provincial Territorial table on online child sexual exploitation.
o Collaborating with industry and our international allies bilaterally and through fora such as the G7 and the Fives Eyes
• The Government of Canada is unwavering in its commitment to protecting children from the profound harm of online sexual exploitation. Through the National Strategy, we will continue to take bold, coordinated action to confront this evolving threat.

National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet (National Strategy)

• From 2014 to 2022, OCSE rates have risen by 217%, with girls being the majority of victims.
• The National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet, is led by Public Safety Canada (PS) in partnership with the RCMP, Justice Canada, and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P).
• The Strategy aims to coordinate federal efforts, support law enforcement, enable reporting, support victims, facilitate research, increase public awareness, and collaborate with the digital industry.
• PS leads policy development, funds Cybertip.ca for reporting online child sexual exploitation (OCSE), and supports Project Arachnid, which uses automated detection and a global team of analysts to combat child sexual abuse material online. The project quickly sends removal notices to electronic service providers, focusing on victim-centric solutions.
• The RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Crime Centre handles OCSE investigations, while Justice Canada develops legislation and provides legal support.
• Key initiatives under the National Strategy include public awareness campaigns, support for Internet Child Exploitation Units, prevention programs, data collection by Statistics Canada, and knowledge-sharing events.
• PS is actively engaged with international counterparts, primarily through the Five Eyes and the G7 fora. Since 2024, Canada is chairing the G7 the Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Working Group, which monitors progress on delivering the G7 Action Plan to Combat CSEA under four pillars: encourage industry to play its part, strengthen domestic regimes, strengthen law enforcement cooperation, and protect children around the world.
• PS also engages with the digital industry to raise awareness of OCSE and encourage tech companies to adopt the Voluntary Principles to Counter Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, a standard set of concrete measures to enhance child safety on online platforms.
• Budget 2022 allocated $41.6 million over five years and $8.9 million ongoing to enhance child protection efforts. This builds on Budget 2019's $22.4 million over three years for prevention activities, prosecution enhancement, and knowledge expansion.
• Budget 2024 approved an additional $2.5 million for 2024–25 to support C3P ahead of implementing former Bill C-63, the Online Harms Act.

Former Bill C-63, the Online Harms Act

• Bill C-63, the Online Harms Act, proposed to hold online platforms accountable for the harmful content they host. The Bill defined seven categories of harmful content, three of which were specific to children: (1) content that sexually victimizes a child or revictimizes a survivor, (2) content that induces a child to harm themselves, and (3) content used to bully a child.
• Bill C-63 was meant to complement efforts under the National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet by providing a regulatory framework for online platforms, special protections for children and strengthened reporting of child pornography.
• The Act also included provision to address the significant rise in violent extremist content online. Recent reports indicate an increase in individuals perpetrating online child sexual exploitation as part of ideologically motivated violent extremism.
• The Bill died on the Order Paper in January 2025.
 

If Pressed
Q1- Keeping Children Safe – Online Harms and Liberal Platform Commitments
• In February 2024, the Government introduced Bill C-63, the Online Harms Act, which included measures to address a range of harmful content online, including content that sexually victimizes a child or revictimizes a survivor. This Bill died on the Order Paper in January of this year.
• Harmful content on social media platforms, including online child sexual exploitation, cyberbullying and violent extremist content, continues to undermine the safety of our communities, especially children.
• The Government of Canada remains committed to addressing online harms and protecting children from all forms of sexual exploitation through prevention, legislation and law enforcement.
• A top priority for our government is to ensure that our security and law enforcement agencies are fully equipped to address illegal activities online and to safeguard victims.
• Our legislative approach to addressing harmful content and activity online will be balanced and targeted, while upholding privacy and freedom of expression rights for all Canadians.
• We will continue to advance greater transparency and accountability among online service providers.