Make national sex offender registry public
Petitioners ask the Government to amend the Sex Offender Information Registration Act to permit public access to the National Sex Offender Registry, creating a standardized national public registry with appropriate legal safeguards.
Why we would sign this petition
- Provides public access to offender data, which petitioners say would aid community awareness and prevention of sexual offences.
- Prioritizes protection of children and vulnerable persons by increasing transparency about known offenders.
- Creates a standardized national registry that could reduce jurisdictional gaps and improve consistency across provinces and territories.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- Public disclosure may raise privacy and reintegration concerns for listed individuals and could conflict with legal protections.
- Open access risks misuse, vigilantism or reliance on incomplete or outdated information.
- Implementing and coordinating a national public registry may be legally and administratively complex, costly, or duplicate provincial systems.
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 Government of Canada The National Sex Offender Registry is currently only available to law enforcement agencies; Permitting public access to the National Sex Offender Registry is in the interest of greater public safety; The protection of children and vulnerable persons is a fundamental responsibility of the federal government; Access to accurate public safety information plays a critical role in preventing sexual offences and supporting community awareness; The absence of a publicly accessible federal sex offender registry has resulted in gaps in transparency and accountability; and The creation of a national standardized public registry subject to appropriate legal safeguards would promote consistency across jurisdictions and enhance public confidence. We, the undersigned, residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to amend the Sex Offender Information Registration Act (S.C. 2004, c. 10) to permit public access to the National Sex Offender Registry.
Government response
No government response is available yet.