Mandate caller-ID authentication

AI summary

Petitioners ask the Minister of Industry to require all Canadian telecommunications providers to implement and enforce strict caller-ID authentication (e.g., STIR/SHAKEN) and block any call whose caller ID cannot be cryptographically verified.

AI summaries describe petitioners’ requests and claims. Consult the official record for the full text.

Official petition

Petition to the Minister of Industry Canadians receive an extremely high volume of fraudulent phone calls, many of which use spoofed caller ID numbers to impersonate legitimate businesses, government agencies, and financial institutions; Caller ID spoofing enables scammers to appear as local or trusted numbers, increasing the likelihood that Canadians will answer and be defrauded; Existing technologies such as STIR/SHAKEN provide a means to cryptographically authenticate caller ID information, but implementation and enforcement across carriers remains inconsistent; Spoofed calls often originate from VoIP systems or international gateways that do not verify caller identity, allowing fraudulent calls to bypass current protections; Stronger authentication requirements would significantly reduce scam calls, protect Canadians from fraud, and restore trust in telecommunications without imposing significant costs on government; and Other jurisdictions are moving toward stricter caller-ID authentication standards, and Canada has the opportunity to strengthen consumer protection through clear, enforceable regulation. We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to mandate that all telecommunications providers operating in Canada implement and enforce strict caller-ID authentication standards, including the blocking of any call whose caller ID cannot be cryptographically verified as originating from the number it claims to represent.

Government response

No government response is available yet.