Department of Justice Canada: The records underlying the age of protection, S.C. 2008, c. 6Not registered
4 Sept 2026 · Access to Information Act
15 Sept: fee waiver refused, in words identical to two other requests. No file number. Complaint to the Information Commissioner, file 5826-04320.
Request under the Access to Information Act - records underlying the age of protection, S.C. 2008, c. 6
Attention: Laura Riggs, Director, Access to Information and Privacy, Department of Justice Canada, 275 Sparks Street, 9th Floor - Building SAT, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8.
Hello.
I make this request under section 6 of the Access to Information Act. I am a resident of Canada and I request access to the following records held by the Department of Justice.
The subject is the age of protection enacted by sections 13 and 54 of the Tackling Violent Crime Act, S.C. 2008, c. 6, which came into force on 1 May 2008 by SI/2008-34, and the close-in-age exceptions in subsections 150.1(2) and 150.1(2.1) of the Criminal Code.
1. All records held by the Department that set out the evidence, research, statistics or expert advice relied on in selecting 16 years as the age of protection, dated between 1 January 2006 and 28 February 2008. This includes briefing notes to the Minister, policy options papers, decks, and departmental research reports
2. All records analysing any age of protection other than 16 years, including 17, 18, 19, 21, 23 and 25, dated between 1 January 2006 and the date this request is processed, and all records stating the reason any such age was not adopted
3. All records that set out the evidence or reasoning relied on in selecting the close-in-age intervals of 2 years in subsection 150.1(2) and 5 years in subsection 150.1(2.1), including any analysis of other intervals
4. All Charter statements, Charter risk assessments, and legal analyses under sections 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms held by the Department that address the age of protection or the close-in-age exceptions, dated between 1 January 2006 and the date this request is processed
5. All post-implementation evaluations, reviews, or effectiveness assessments of the 2008 age of protection, including any measurement of its effect on reported sexual offences against persons aged 14 to 17, and any record showing that no such evaluation was conducted
6. All records held by the Department analysing sexual offending against complainants aged 16 and 17, and against complainants aged 18 to 24, including any analysis of the adequacy of section 153 of the Criminal Code for those age groups, dated between 1 January 2008 and the date this request is processed
7. All records concerning the repeal of section 159 of the Criminal Code by S.C. 2019, c. 25, that address the constitutionality of an age of protection set above the general age
I request the records in electronic format.
Fees. I am without income and I am unable to pay the application fee. I request a waiver of the fee under subsection 11(6) of the Access to Information Act. The records sought concern the protection of minors from sexual exploitation under the Criminal Code, and the public benefit of their release is direct.
I require registration of this request on the date of its receipt, and a file number in writing. Where the Department holds no record answering any numbered item above, I require a written statement to that effect for that item, identifying the offices searched.
A refusal to register this request until a fee is paid, an absence of a file number, or an absence of a decision on the waiver request will be placed before the Information Commissioner of Canada under section 30 of the Act.
Respectfully,
Danilo Dzyuban