AI impact assessments are a leading strategy to promote “trustworthy AI” in government and private sector AI systems.


In November 2024, the Law Commission of Ontario and Ontario Human Rights Commission released the first AI impact assessment based on Canadian human rights law. The LCO/OHRC HRIA is a practical step-by-step guide that will help Canadian public and private organizations embed “human rights by design” in their AI systems.


Today, the LCO is releasing a Backgrounder summarizing the benefits, limitations, and choices in AI impact assessments. The Backgrounder will help policymakers and stakeholders understand the key issues and stakeholder perspectives on these important AI governance tools.

Visit the LCO website.

BRITISH COLUMBIA LAW INSTITUTE

• BCLI publsihes its Guide to Trauma-informed Legal Writing.

LAW REFORM COMMISSION OF SASKATCHEWAN

• The Law Reform Commission of Saskatchewan has released its Uniform Commercial Tenancies Act Tentative Proposals Report.

LAW COMMISSION OF ONTARIO

• LCO releases Human Rights AI Impact Assessment Backgrounder

• L'Institut québécois de réforme du droit et de la justice publie deux premiers rapports sur la P-38 

L’Institut québécois de réforme du droit et de la justice (IQRDJ) a été mandaté par le ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux pour réaliser une étude au sujet de la Loi sur la protection des personnes dont l’état mental présente un danger pour elles-mêmes ou pour autrui (P-38). Cette loi, à caractère exceptionnel, permet d’amener une personne et de la placer sous garde dans un établissement de santé et de services sociaux sans qu’elle y ait consenti. Elle encadre le mécanisme de garde en établissement, correspondant à une hospitalisation involontaire. Dans le cadre de cette étude, l’IQRDJ rend publics les deux premiers rapports qui brossent le portrait global de la garde en établissement :

• Rapport 1. Portrait général et revue de littérature : ce premier rapport présente le contexte général de la P-38, le portrait quantitatif de son application au Québec dans les 10 dernières années, ainsi que les principaux enjeux que son application soulève dans la littérature. À la fin de ce rapport se trouve une liste des orientations susceptibles de guider les étapes suivantes de la recherche de l’IQRDJ émise à la lumière de ce tour d’horizon de la littérature.
  
  
• Rapport 2. Analyse comparative : ce second rapport propose une analyse comparative des processus d’hospitalisation involontaire au Canada (la garde en établissement au Québec). À ce titre, il compare les lois qui encadrent ce type d’intervention dans les 10 provinces et 3 territoires du Canada et permet de dégager les particularités du mécanisme québécois. 

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​The Quebec Institute for Law and Justice Reform (IQRDJ) was commissioned by the Ministry of Health and Social Services to conduct a study on the Act respecting the protection of persons whose mental state presents a danger to themselves or to others (P-38). This exceptional law allows for a person to be taken and placed under care in a health and social services institution without their consent. It governs the mechanism of institutional care, corresponding to involuntary hospitalization. As part of this study, the IQRDJ is releasing the first two reports that provide an overall picture of institutional care:

• Report 1. General Overview and Literature Review: This first report presents the general context of P-38, a quantitative overview of its application in Quebec over the past 10 years, and the main issues raised by its application in the literature. At the end of this report is a list of orientations likely to guide the next steps of the IQRDJ's research, issued in light of this literature review.
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• Report 2. Comparative Analysis: This second report offers a comparative analysis of involuntary hospitalization processes in Canada (institutional care in Quebec). It compares the laws governing this type of intervention in the 10 provinces and 3 territories of Canada and highlights the particularities of the Quebec mechanism. Based on these first two reports, the IQRDJ's study continues with consultations with all professionals, as well as the primary individuals concerned and their relatives, in order to better understand the practical impacts of the law on a daily basis.
  

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2024 marks the 50th year of the Law Reform Commission of Saskatchewan proposing law reform aimed at modernizing and simplifying the laws of Saskatchewan. In recognition of its 50th anniversary, the Commission sought perspectives and feedback on the work of the Commission via survey. The Commission received 84 responses to the survey; this report summarizes the feedback received. 

Read the report...

ALBERTA LAW REFORM INSTITUTE

• Alberta Government Proposes Changes To The Alberta Evidence Act In Bill 31

LAW REFORM COMMISSION OF SASKATCHEWAN

• The Law Reform Commission of Saskatchewan has released a report on its findings from its 50th anniversary survey

LAW COMMISSION OF ONTARIO

• LCO Appears Before Bill 194 Standing Committee

LAW COMMISSION OF CANADA

• The LCC is now accepting applications for its Emerging Scholars Program for Winter 2025. Apply here by November 29

BRITISH COLUMBIA LAW INSTITUTE

• BCLI Pension Division Report Recommendations Implemented

ALBERTA LAW REFORM INSTITUTE

• ALRI Publishes Final Report On Access to Digital Assets

MANITOBA LAW REFORM COMMISSION

• Th Manitoba Law Reform Commission releases Informal Report #30: Modernizing Exclusions under s 23(1) The Executions Act

LAW REFORM COMMISSION OF SASKATCHEWAN

• 2024 marks the 50th year of the Law Reform Commission of Saskatchewan proposing law reform aimed at modernizing and simplifying the laws of Saskatchewan. The Commission is interested in hearing perspectives and feedback on the work of the Commission via survey.

LAW COMMISSION OF CANADA

• Law Commission of Canada Call for Papers on Charity and Law in Canada 

The British Columbia Law Institute has published Artificial Intelligence And Civil Liability. 

The goal of the Artificial Intelligence and Civil Liability Project was to determine how the rules of tort law need to adapt to respond to harm to persons and property caused by autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The project set out to answer: Who is, or should be, liable for choices made by intelligent machines operating autonomously? What happens when a robot commits a tort?

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