Canada Reviews Bill C-219 to Expand Sanctions Scope and Protect Prisoners of Conscience

Canada's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development (FAAE) has held a parliamentary discussion on Bill C-219, introduced by MP James Bezan in 2025, as part of its ongoing legislative study.

The bill proposes a series of amendments to Canada's Special Economic Measures Act, bringing it closer in line with EU and US sanctions practice:

• Expanding visa bans to cover immediate family members of individuals already sanctioned under the Act or related regulations
• Adding transnational repression as a standalone designation criterion
• Requiring reporting by the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the number of "prisoners of conscience" — individuals detained solely because of their identity or sincerely held beliefs, in violation of international human rights standards — held in foreign countries

The discussion was held in conjunction with the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, which put forward additional recommendations:

• Recognising arbitrary detention and torture of prisoners of conscience as independent grounds for designation
• Including data on prisoners of conscience in Global Affairs Canada's travel advisories
• Making publication of such data subject to the consent of the prisoner's family, rather than the discretion of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Embedding prisoner of conscience data directly into sanctions legislation