News release: Notice of application filed with Federal Court in connection with search engine de-listing investigation

Notice of application filed with Federal Court in connection with search engine de-listing investigation

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) has filed an application with the Federal Court seeking an order to implement its recommendations following an investigation into Google that concluded August 27, 2025.

The OPC investigation, resulting from a complaint against Google, found that the company had violated Canada’s federal private-sector privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), by continuing to display certain media articles about an individual when their name was searched. The investigation concluded that Canadians have a right to have certain information about them de-listed in limited circumstances so that it does not appear in online search results for their name.

Under the current privacy law, the Privacy Commissioner cannot make binding orders to enforce compliance and must apply to the Federal Court to do so within one year of the release of the report of findings.

De-listing search results does not remove the content from the internet – it would continue to exist online and could still be found on the websites where it was originally published and could be found using search terms other than the individual’s name.