Child pornography laws in Canada

In Canada, child pornography is illegal under Section 163.1 of the Criminal Code and is punishable by up to ten or fourteen years of imprisonment depending on the offence. The Supreme Court of Canada has found child pornography, including the simple possession of child pornography, to not be protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In October 2024, a private member's bill was passed which generally retitles references to "child pornography" as "child sexual abuse material". This law is set to take effect in October 2025. Some current law is unenforceable to the extent of exemptions carved out by the Supreme Court of Canada in R v Sharpe.

The statute does not differentiate between pornographic images of an actual minor, realistic images that are not of an actual minor, non-realistic images such as drawings, and non-visual material of any kind, including writing, audio, sex dolls, and visual depictions generated by artificial intelligence; under the statute, any visual depiction, written material or material of any kind that depicts a person who is or is depicted as being under the age of eighteen years and engaged in or depicted as engaged in explicit sexual activity, or the dominant characteristic of which is the depiction, for a sexual purpose, of a sexual organ or the anal region of a person under the age of eighteen years, is unlawful. Certain portions of the law concerning one-year mandatory minimums for possession and making of child pornography have since been struck down as unconstitutional.