Canada: check consent, authority and provincial context
Police may request relevant footage from an owner, while organisations and cloud providers may face separate disclosure rules. Federal, provincial and sector-specific privacy requirements can affect the analysis.
Practical response
- Verify the police service and occurrence number.
- Ask whether the request is voluntary or supported by legal authority.
- Preserve the original clip and its time-zone information.
- Limit voluntary disclosure to what is relevant and record the transfer.
- Consider other individuals captured and obtain provincial advice where needed.
A privacy-law permission to disclose is not the same as an obligation to disclose. Ask which basis is being relied upon.
Official starting points: the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada guidance on organisational disclosures and its video-surveillance guidance.
Last checked: 1 September 2026. Provincial rules and the household or organisational context can differ.