The federal Conservative government introduced legislation on Wednesday that would amend the Criminal Code to crack down on those who steal people's identity information, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said.
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson speaks at a news conference on identity theft legislation in Ottawa Wednesday.
(Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)
Nicholson said if passed, the bill would give police extra tools to catch those in possession of people's identity information before fraud has been committed.
"Every day, identity theft impacts the daily lives of more Canadians," Nicholson told reporters in Ottawa.
The proposed legislation would create three new offences, all carrying maximum five-year prison sentences:
- Obtaining or possessing identity information with intent to use it to commit certain crimes.
- Trafficking in identity information with knowledge of or recklessness as to its intended use in the commission of certain crimes.
- Possessing and trafficking in government-issued identity documents.
Currently, using someone else's information to commit a forgery or make fake identification is against the law.
But it's not illegal to collect, possess or traffic other people's identity documents, such as passports, credit cards and driver's licences, as long as the information is not used to commit a crime.
The Canadian Council of Better Business Bureaus estimates identity theft costs Canadian consumers and businesses more than $2 billion a year.
About 8,000 Canadians reported losses through identity theft last year, the government said.
The bill is one in a series of anti-crime legislation the Tories tabled in Parliament this week, including bills proposing mandatory jail time for drug dealers and increased penalties for those convicted of street racing.
With files from the Canadian PressRelated
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