Is Pornhub blocked in Canada?
No. Canada has no age-verification law for porn sites in effect. Bill S-209 has passed the Senate and is being debated in the House of Commons.
Canada has no federal law requiring age verification for porn sites. Bill S-209 would make it an offence for companies to make porn available to under-18s for commercial purposes, with a defence for using an approved age-verification or age-estimation method, fines of up to C$500,000 and court-ordered ISP blocking. It passed the Senate in April 2026 and is at second reading in the House of Commons, where debate began on 24 September 2026. Pornhub remains available in Canada.
The rules
| Status | Bill moving |
|---|---|
| Law | Bill S-209: Bill S-209, Protecting Young Persons from Exposure to Pornography Act |
| Citation | 45th Parliament, 1st Session; Senate public bill sponsored by Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne; passed by the Senate as amended on 15 April 2026; sponsored in the House of Commons by MP Rosemarie Falk |
| Who it covers | Would make it an offence for an organization to make pornographic material available on the internet to a person under 18 for commercial purposes. An organization would have a defence if it used a prescribed age-verification or age-estimation method, or if the material had a legitimate purpose related to science, medicine, education or the arts. Services that only incidentally provide search, transmission or storage are excluded. |
| Accepted ID methods | Prescribed age-verification or age-estimation methods (regulations must require them to be highly effective, operated by an arm's-length third party, and privacy-protective) |
| Data rules | Regulations would have to ensure prescribed methods protect privacy and are run by third parties at arm's length from the organization. |
| Enforcement | An enforcement authority designated by the government could issue a notice giving an organization 20 days to comply; if it does not, the authority could ask the Federal Court to order internet service providers to block access to the material in Canada, even if adults are incidentally affected. Senate committee amendments added an administrative monetary penalty regime for platforms that fail to verify or estimate users' ages, with the details to be set by regulation, and left the coming-into-force date to the government. |
| Penalties | Fines on summary conviction of up to C$250,000 for a first offence and C$500,000 for subsequent offences. Administrative monetary penalty amounts would be set by regulation. |
Is Pornhub available in Canada?
No federal age-verification requirement is in force, and no restriction on Canadian visitors has been reported. Ethical Capital Partners, which owns Pornhub's Montreal-based operator Aylo, has criticised Bill S-209, arguing that age-check technology is not yet reliable enough.
Timeline
- Bill S-209 receives first reading in the Senate. [2]
- The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee reports S-209 with amendments, adding administrative monetary penalties and leaving the coming-into-force date to the government. [1]
- After passing the Senate on 15 April 2026, S-209 receives first reading in the House of Commons; second-reading debate began on 24 September 2026. [1]
Bills to watch
- Bill S-209. Introduced 28 May 2025; amended in Senate committee (report presented 24 March 2026) and passed by the Senate on 15 April 2026. First reading in the House of Commons on 30 April 2026; the first hour of second-reading debate was held on 24 September 2026. at second reading in the House of Commons (per LEGISinfo)
Related laws
- Bill S-210 (44th Parliament). Passed the Senate on 18 April 2023 and House second reading on 13 December 2023 (189–133). It was deemed reported from committee without amendment on 7 June 2024 but never reached third reading, and died when the session ended on 6 January 2025.
Sources
- LEGISinfo: S-209 (45-1) Protecting Young Persons from Exposure to Pornography Act (parl.ca) Legislature · accessed Oct 26, 2026
- Bill S-209, First Reading (parl.ca) Legislature · May 28, 2025
- Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne, third-reading speech on Bill S-209 (Senate of Canada) (sencanada.ca) Legislature · Apr 14, 2026
- Online harms bill not right vehicle to bring in age-verification to access pornography, minister says (The Globe and Mail) (theglobeandmail.com) News · Apr 28, 2026
- 'Protecting kids': Online porn age-check bill sponsored by MP Falk heads to Commons debate (paNOW) (panow.com) News · Sep 18, 2026
- Bill S-209 (45th Parliament, 1st session), openparliament.ca (openparliament.ca) Tracker · accessed Oct 26, 2026
- LEGISinfo: S-210 (44-1) (parl.ca) Legislature · accessed Oct 26, 2026
This page is general information, not legal advice. Last verified October 26, 2026 by the Editorial Team. See something wrong or out of date? Report a correction. How we work: methodology.