The federal government’s proposed Bill C-63, better known as the Online Harms Act, would cost approximately $200 million to set up, according to a report from the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO).
Originally introduced in February, the bill would result in the regulation of online platforms like Facebook, Twitch and PornHub in Canada, forcing them to limit harmful content shared on their platforms. As part of this act, the government would create a Digital Safety Commission to oversee this framework, as well as a Digital Safety Ombudsperson to further address issues with online safety, and Digital Safety Office to manage the day-to-day operations.
Now, the PBO estimates that these three entities would require about 330 employees between 2024-2025 to 2028-2029, which was factored into the cost estimate. The PBO says additional costs could be incurred should these entities hire outside consulting services or legal support.
Of course, the government anticipates some form of income stemming from social media companies that would be hit with fines for failing to adhere to the proposed act. However, the PBO says that wasn’t factored into its estimate.
“There is a high degree of uncertainty in the revenues that will be generated since it depends on the willingness of outside enterprises to follow the requirements set out by the commission and the Online Harms Act,” writes the PBO in its report. “In addition, few details are available about the cost recovery mechanism which may offset some or all of the costs related to the Digital Safety Commission, Ombudsperson and Office, which are yet to be made public by the Government.”
The PBO says it looked to other Canadian and international regulators to come up with its estimates for the Online Harms Act.
For now, there’s no guarantee the Online Harms Act will be passed. In response to the PBO’s report, the Opposition Conservatives committed to repealing the act should it become law, arguing it would lead to a “three-headed censorship monster” and “$200 million bureaucracy.”
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