Prohibit travel for organs
Petitioners ask Parliament to amend the Criminal Code and IRPA to prohibit Canadians travelling abroad to obtain organs without consent or for payment and bar participants' admission. The government responds that S-223 was enacted.
Why we would sign this petition
- It would close a legal gap by criminalizing Canadians’ travel to obtain organs taken without consent or for payment, reducing demand and incentives for international organ trafficking.
- Linking criminal offences with immigration inadmissibility would remove safe harbour for participants and help disrupt trafficking networks and transactions.
- Prompt parliamentary action would reinforce Canada’s legal framework on organ transplantation and signal a clear stance against non‑consensual, commercial organ trade.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- Extraterritorial enforcement is difficult; proving someone travelled specifically to obtain trafficked organs and securing evidence abroad could be impractical.
- Broad travel prohibitions risk capturing legitimate medical travel or consented transplants unless definitions and exemptions are carefully drafted.
- Making participants inadmissible could also exclude or punish victims or coerced individuals unless the law includes clear safeguards and victim protections.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED We, the undersigned residents of Canada, draw the attention of the House of Commons to the following: Whereas increasing concerns about international trafficking in human organs removed from victims without consent have not yet led to a legal prohibition on Canadians travelling abroad to acquire or receive such organs; and Whereas there are currently two bills before Parliament proposing to impede the trafficking of human organs obtained without consent or as a result of a financial transaction: Bill C-350 in the House of Commons and Bill S-240 in the Senate; Therefore, we, the undersigned, urge the Parliament of Canada to move quickly on the proposed legislation so as to amend the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to prohibit Canadians from travelling abroad to acquire human organs removed without consent or as a result of a financial transaction and to render inadmissible to Canada any and all permanent residents or foreign nationals who have participated in this abhorrent trade in human organs.
Government response
Response by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency Signed by THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY PATRICIA LATTANZIO Senate Public Bill S-240, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (trafficking in human organs), which was introduced by Senator Salma Ataullahjan on October 31, 2017, but died on the Order Paper with dissolution of Parliament, was re-introduced as Senate Public Bill S-223, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (trafficking in human organs), which received Royal Assent and came into force on December 15, 2022. Our Government was pleased to support Senate Public Bill S-223. In Canada, organ transplantation and donation is governed by a comprehensive legislative framework at both the federal and provincial/territorial level, encompassing health and criminal law. Bill S-223 strengthens that framework.