Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC)
Canada’s federal privacy oversight body for PIPEDA and the Privacy Act.
Overview
The OPC investigates complaints, conducts audits, receives breach reports and publishes guidance. Its findings are influential, though its order-making powers have historically been limited.
Its powers include supervising and examining the organisations it oversees.
In Canada it works at federal level. Instruments connected to it in this glossary include PIPEDA and OPC guidance.
Check the official sources below for legal scope, applicable dates and exceptions. This entry is an explanatory reference, not legal advice.
Why it matters
Its examinations and expectations often decide outcomes more than the text of the law.
Who it affects
Organisations in privacy data protection in Canada.
Where it sits
Ten linked steps connect where you operate to the proof that you complied.
- 01Jurisdiction
- 02Industry
- 03Activity
- 04Authority
- 05Regulation
- 06Requirement
- 07Guidance
- 08Control
- 09Evidence
- 10Enforcement
Connections
The terms most closely tied to OPC. Select one to open it.
What to do about it
- 1Confirm whether OPC has power over you, and through which licence, registration, membership or activity.
- 2Follow its rules, guidance and enforcement publications as they are issued.
- 3Map each obligation it creates to a control with a named owner.
- 4Keep examination-ready evidence for its highest-risk obligations.
From requirement to evidence.
Regulation Layer tracks its publications in the change feed, maps its obligations to your controls.
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