Google and Meta Bring AI Age Checks to Canada Before Ottawa Acts
Google will start its artificial-intelligence age-assurance system in Canada in the coming days, with a gradual rollout it says it will monitor. The system is meant to spot users under 18 and add extra protections to their accounts. The Globe and Mail
The rollout will be gradual. Google's age-estimation model, software trained to infer age, reads signals already tied to an account. That includes the types of information searched for and the categories of YouTube videos watched. Google says it will not collect new information for this check beyond what is already tied to the account.
Google Canada announced the plan on its official blog under the title "Ensuring safer online experiences for Canadian kids and teens". Google Canada blog When the tool estimates a user may be younger than 18, Google says it will notify that person by email and while they use Google products. If an account is identified as underage, Google will add protections such as safeguards on content recommendations. An adult flagged in error can verify age with government ID or a selfie.
In Ottawa, the file sits with Jeanette Patell, Google Canada's director of government affairs and public policy. She handles federal interest in online safety and provincial concerns around youth privacy, education and child welfare.
Meta is on a parallel track. It has already started using AI in Canada to identify users who may be underage and place them in teen accounts. In September, Meta said it would expand testing of its AI age-identification technology outside the United States, including Canada. The Globe and Mail
Its methods also rely on account behaviour already on file. Meta uses AI to look for context clues such as birthday posts to spot accounts that may belong to someone underage. In May, Meta said it would add visual analysis, with AI scanning photos and videos for clues about age. Persona, an identity vendor, is separately testing different scenarios teenagers may use to appear older than they are. Reuters
The U.S. legal picture does not map directly onto Canada. Under a U.S. settlement, Meta may temporarily use some data from children it identifies to train an AI model to detect users under 13. Reuters Meta has confirmed the child-protection measures promised in that recent U.S. settlement will not come to Canada.
In Ottawa, Parliament has not yet set a rule. The Liberal government introduced digital safety Bill C-34, which has not become law. The bill would require social media platforms to at least temporarily block access for children under 16. Parliament has not passed it.
The broader context here is familiar in Canadian federalism. Canada-wide company systems are now operating before Ottawa has set a federal standard. Ottawa will have to choose between industry-led age estimation with a way to appeal, or a law with a fixed age limit. Provinces will judge the same tools by their effects on schools, child protection and privacy enforcement.
For Parliament, the questions now are practical rather than abstract. Lawmakers will need to test how often adults are misclassified and how difficult ID or selfie checks are to complete. They will need to test claims about data minimisation, the principle of using as little personal information as possible, against what the models actually use. And they will need to decide whether safeguards for under-18 accounts meet the stricter test in Bill C-34 of at least temporary blocking for under-16s. Those answers will shape committee study, regulation and any federal-provincial talks on enforcement.
