Alberta’s deepfake law, Bill 33, would cover AI-generated intimate content and let victims sue over careless sharing, which turns a criminal-sounding bill into a records problem for employers.
The bill is at the introduction stage and is not law.
It adds AI-altered content, threats to share and a $10,000 provincial offence.
The negligence clause is the part most businesses have not read.
Alberta’s deepfake law changes arrived on October 27, 2026, inside Bill 33, the Justice Statutes Amendment Act, 2026 (No. 2). The bill would rename the province’s intimate images statute the Intimate Content Protection Act and stretch it to cover AI-generated and altered media. Most attention has gone to the new offence. Our view is that employers should look first at a quieter line, which would make people answerable when their carelessness leads to intimate content being shared.
Key points
- The act would cover audio, live streams and “altered intimate content”, including artificially generated media.
- Victims could sue over a threat to distribute, even if nothing was shared.
- Breaking the new provincial offence could cost up to $10,000 and up to two years in jail.
- Changes take effect on proclamation, after the bill passes.
What would Alberta’s deepfake law change?
It would widen Alberta’s civil statute from real photos and videos to intimate content, including audio, live streams and altered or AI-generated media. Victims could sue over threats to share and take back consent, careless conduct would carry liability, and a new provincial offence would bring fines up to $10,000, up to two years in jail, or both.
The source for each of those points is the Alberta government’s Bill 33 summary page and its fact sheet, published by the Ministry of Justice. Bill 33 is an omnibus bill, and it also amends the Alberta Human Rights Act, the Legal Profession Act and other statutes. This column deals only with the intimate content changes.
Source: Government of Alberta, Bill 33 summary, October 2026. Text summary: the bill was introduced October 27, 2026, has not passed, and takes effect on proclamation at a date not yet set.
Why should Alberta employers care about the negligence clause?
Because businesses hold this kind of material more often than they think. Harassment complaints, HR investigation files, IT forensic copies and screenshots sent to a manager can all contain intimate content. If the bill passes as summarized, careless handling that leads to wider distribution could expose the person responsible, and potentially the organization, to a civil claim.
The government summary does not set out the standard of care, and we have not reviewed the full bill text, so the reach of “negligent behaviour” is still an open question. The direction is clear enough to act on. A complaint file that sits in a shared inbox, a forwarded screenshot, an evidence folder with open permissions: each is the kind of handling a court could be asked to examine.
AI widens the pool. Image and voice tools used for ordinary marketing can produce altered content of real staff or customers, and the amended act would expressly reach “altered” and “artificially generated” media. Our guide to disclosing AI avatars and synthetic media covers the consent side of that work.
How should a business prepare before Bill 33 passes?
Treat it as a records-handling job first. Name who receives reports of intimate content, decide where that material is stored and who can open it, and set a rule against forwarding it. These steps cost little, make sense under existing privacy duties, and leave you ready whatever the final standard of care turns out to be.
A simple framework, in the order we would do it:
- Intake: one named person, usually in HR, receives any report involving intimate content. Nobody else collects copies.
- Storage: one restricted folder, with access logged. Never email attachments, never a shared drive.
- No forwarding: describe the content in writing rather than passing it on, unless counsel or police need it.
- AI tools: a written rule that staff may not use image or voice generators on real people’s likenesses without documented consent.
- Removal: a deletion date for each file once the matter closes, recorded in the file itself.
Firms already working through Canada’s federal privacy changes, covered in our piece on Bill C-36 and AI privacy, can fold these steps into the same review. The Canadian AI policy hub tracks both.
The other reading
Some will say the negligence clause is aimed at individuals, such as a partner who leaves a phone unlocked, and that businesses are unlikely targets. That may prove right once the text is tested in court. We still read it as a business issue, because organizations are where intimate content most often ends up in files, and a careful process is cheaper than an argument about who was careless.
Fine Print
- Instrument: Bill 33, Justice Statutes Amendment Act, 2026 (No. 2).
- Status: introduced October 27, 2026; not passed; takes effect on proclamation.
- Who decides: the Legislative Assembly of Alberta; Alberta Justice is the lead ministry.
- Who it applies to: anyone who distributes, threatens to distribute or negligently causes distribution of intimate content in Alberta.
- What changes: HR, IT and marketing policies on handling and creating intimate or altered content.
- Still undecided: the standard of care for negligence, and the proclamation date.
FAQ
Is Alberta’s deepfake law in force?
No. Bill 33 was introduced on October 27, 2026. If passed, it takes effect on proclamation, and no date has been set.
Does Alberta’s deepfake law cover AI-generated images?
Yes, as proposed. The bill would define altered intimate content to include media that was modified or made by AI, according to the government fact sheet.
What is the penalty under Bill 33 for sharing intimate deepfakes?
A conviction under the proposed provincial offence could bring a $10,000 maximum fine, a jail term of up to two years, or both. Victims would keep a separate right to sue.
The next step belongs to the legislature. Before it acts, name the one person in your business who handles reports of intimate content, and close the shared folders.
Last fact-checked October 29, 2026 against the Government of Alberta’s Bill 33 summary and fact sheet. General information, not legal advice.
