Protections Wanted for How Federal Political Parties Use Personal Information
Vancouver, BC April 21, 2026 – These are the results of an online poll conducted on behalf of the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA), the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), Centre for Digital Rights (CDR), and OpenMedia as part of work with www.voterprivacy.ca.
The survey shows Canadians have both low trust and familiarity with how federal political parties protect personal information. Canadians support strengthening privacy rights and accountability, and believe federal political parties should be subject to legislated privacy requirements.
Canadians have a low level of trust in federal political parties to protect their personal information.
Only one-third (33%) of Canadians say they have “a great deal of trust” (4%) or “some trust” (29%) in federal political parties to protect personal financial information. Six-in-ten (60%) Canadians say they either have “not very much trust” (37%) or “no trust at all” (23%) in federal political parties to protect their personal information. 7% are undecided.
Trust in federal political parties to protect personal information is on par with trust in large private companies (34% trust a great deal or some), but much lower than trust in nonprofits and charitable organizations (54% trust a great deal or some), Independent Privacy Commissioners (52%) and federal government departments and agencies (51%).
Canadians are unaware of many aspects of how federal political parties collect and use their personal information.
A majority of Canadians say they are aware that “federal political parties collect personal information about voters” (57% aware) and that “federal political parties use personal information to target communications during elections and throughout the year” (56% aware).
However, most Canadians are unaware that “federal political parties are not subject to the same privacy laws as businesses and public sector organizations in some provinces or across Canada” (70% unaware) and that “individuals do not have the same rights to find out what personal information federal political parties have collected about them and to correct it as they do with businesses and public sector organization” (72% unaware).
A majority of Canadians also say they did not know that “federal political parties use third-party information sources to supplement voter databases” (56% unaware).
Canadians have many concerns about the rules governing how federal political parties collect, use and retain personal information.
A consistent three-quarters of Canadians say they are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” with each of the following aspects of how federal political parties collect, use and retain personal information:
• 76% are concerned that “Individuals may not be able to withdraw consent for the continued use of their personal information once it is under a federal political party’s control” (43% very, 33% somewhat).
• 76% are concerned that “there is no independent body responsible for ensuring that federal political parties follow appropriate privacy rules or handling complaints” (41% very, 35% somewhat).
• 75% are concerned that “federal political party privacy policies do not have to meet the same privacy standards that apply to many other organizations in Canada” (40% very, 34% somewhat).
• 75% are concerned that “federal political parties can decide for themselves how they collect, use, and retain personal information as long as they describe it in their privacy policies” (38% very, 37% somewhat).
• 74% are concerned that “Individuals may not have the right to access or correct personal information held by federal political parties or their agents” (40% very, 34% somewhat).
Prior to answering these questions, respondents were told that “Federal political parties are currently involved in a legal dispute regarding whether and how privacy laws apply to them. Parliament has passed legislation that substantially alters the rules governing how political parties collect, use and retain personal information.”
Canadians support several ideas to strengthen privacy rights and accountability.
Eight-in-ten or more Canadians agree with each of the following:
• 85% agree that “Canadians should have the right to request correction or deletion of their personal information held by federal political parties” (vs. 7% disagree).
• 84% agree that “Canadians should have the right to access their personal information held by federal political parties” (vs. 9% disagree).
• 83% agree that “federal political parties should face significant penalties if data breaches or misuse of personal information occurs” (vs. 8% disagree).
• 80% agree that “federal political parties should follow the same privacy rules as businesses and public sector organizations” (vs. 10% disagree).
• 80% agree that “federal political parties should be subject to independent review and oversight of their use of personal information.” (vs. 10% disagree).
Canadians are more likely to disagree than agree with each of the following:
• 62% disagree that “given their role in democracy, federal political parties should be able to use the personal information of voters without privacy law applying” (vs. 27% agree).
• 52% disagree that “given their role in democracy, the rights of federal political parties should supersede individual rights to privacy and control of personal information” (vs. 35% agree).
Canadians want federal political parties to be subject to legislated privacy requirements instead of allowing them to set and enforce their own privacy policies.
Given four options for oversight of federal political parties handling of personal information, Canadians clearly prefer legislated requirements over self-enforcement. Nearly seven-in-ten Canadians say their preferred approach is one of the following:
• 34% say “federal political parties should be subject to legislated privacy requirements, with oversight including the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.”
• 34% say “federal political parties should be subject to legislated privacy requirements, with oversight by an independent body specifically created to oversee federal political party information practices.”
Only about one-in-ten Canadians say their preferred approach is one of the following:
• 5% say “federal political parties should set and enforce their own privacy policies without additional external oversight.”
• 5% say “federal political parties should set and enforce their own privacy policies, with limited oversight by Elections Canada.”
Two-in-ten (22%) Canadians have no opinion on their preferred approach.
About the Study
These are the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between April 7 and 8, 2026, on behalf of the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA), the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), Centre for Digital Rights (CDR), and OpenMedia as part of work with www.voterprivacy.ca with input from Canada Research Chair in Communication Policy and Governance Sara Bannerman.
For this survey, a sample of 2001 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed online. These data were statistically weighted by region, age, gender and education to ensure the sample composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data. The precision of Ipsos polls containing online data is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the overall poll is accurate to within +/ -2.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all adult Canadian residents been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Kyle Braid
SVP, Ipsos Public Affairs
+1 604 788-2417
[email protected]
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