• Canada’s Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act provides police with the necessary means to investigate crime in today’s high-tech environment; the act put Canada in a position to ratify the Budapest Convention.
• As of July 2015, 47 states, including Canada and all other G-7 countries, had ratified or acceded to the Budapest Convention.
• The treaty will enter into force three months after Canada notifies the Secretariat of the Council of Europe of Canada’s ratification.

Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced that Canada has ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, commonly known as the Budapest Convention.

“Cyber-tools are increasingly used by criminals in foreign jurisdictions to target Canadians. By ratifying the Budapest Convention and thus facilitating international cooperation on cybercrime, our government is demonstrating its commitment to keeping Canadians safe in cyberspace,”said Rob Nicholson, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The Budapest Convention is an international treaty that provides signatory states with legal tools to help in the investigation and prosecution of computer crime, including Internet-based crime, and crime involving electronic evidence. Because of the borderless nature of cybercrime, cooperation between countries is essential to investigate and prosecute it effectively. Ratification of the convention strengthens Canada’s ability to cooperate fully with its international partners in the fight against cybercrime, including by enhancing Canadian law enforcement agencies’ ability to request assistance, as well as their ability to respond to foreign requests. Canada’s ratification is part of a broader effort to ensure that cyberspace remains a free, open and secure environment for Canadians.

“Just as cyberspace is constantly evolving, so too are the cyberthreats to our security, prosperity and quality of life. Our government is committed to protecting Canadians from the threat of cybercrime. Canada’s ratification of the Budapest Convention will improve international cooperation when cybercrime crosses international borders,” said Peter MacKay, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada