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FederalDid not become law (session ended)42nd Parliament, 1st Session

Bill S-240 explained in plain English

An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (trafficking in human organs)

Federal Parliament bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.

Short answer

Bill S-240 creates criminal offenses for human organ trafficking and adds inadmissibility grounds for individuals involved in such activities under Canadian immigration law.

At a glance

Jurisdiction
Federal Parliament
Legislature / Parliament
Parliament of Canada
Session
42nd Parliament, 1st Session
Bill number
Bill S-240
Full title
An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (trafficking in human organs)
Current status
Did not become law (session ended)
Latest event
At consideration in the Senate of amendments made by the House of Commons
Last updated
May 14, 2019

Official Parliament of Canada snapshot for 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. MP vote breakdowns appear when the House of Commons publishes a recorded division export for that bill. Senate and House stage details include official debate/sitting links when LEGISinfo publishes them.

Chamber
Parliament of Canada
Current Stage
At consideration in the Senate of amendments made by the House of Commons
Latest Activity
May 14, 2019
Plain-language explanation

AI-generated from official bill text; automatically checked and spot-reviewed.

AI-assisted
Short Version

Bill S-240 creates criminal offenses for human organ trafficking and adds inadmissibility grounds for individuals involved in such activities under Canadian immigration law.

What It Means

Bill S-240 amends the Criminal Code and Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to address human organ trafficking. It creates new criminal offenses for actions involving the removal or transplantation of organs without informed consent, and adds grounds for inadmissibility to Canada for individuals involved in such activities.

What This Bill Does
  • Creates new criminal offenses in the Criminal Code for obtaining or facilitating the removal of organs without informed consent, and for obtaining organs for financial gain.
  • Imposes a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment for offenses under the new provisions.
  • Requires medical practitioners to report organ transplant recipients to a designated authority.
  • Amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to make permanent residents or foreign nationals inadmissible to Canada if the Minister believes they have engaged in organ trafficking activities.
Who Is Affected
  • Canadian citizens
  • Permanent residents of Canada
  • Medical practitioners involved in organ transplants
  • Individuals involved in human organ trafficking activities
Uncertainties Or Limits
  • The bill does not specify what constitutes 'informed consent' in practice.
  • The exact criteria for the Minister's determination of 'conduct constituting an offence' are not defined in the text.
  • The bill does not outline procedures for reporting or investigating suspected organ trafficking activities.
Laws Or Regulations Affected
Criminal Code
amends

Creates new criminal offenses for human organ trafficking, including removing organs without informed consent and profiting from illegal organ transactions.

Source: Section 240.1

Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
amends

Adds a new ground for inadmissibility to Canada for individuals suspected of participating in human organ trafficking activities.

Source: Subsection 35(1)

Section 7 of the Criminal Code
amends

Allows Canadian citizens or permanent residents to be prosecuted for organ trafficking offenses committed outside Canada.

Source: Subsection 7(4.2)

Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. Coverage is limited to the official text extracted for this bill version.

Official text

Parliamentary Process

Step 1
First reading
Oct 31, 2017
Completed

We don't have a plain-language summary for First reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

First reading, Oct 31, 2017
End of stage activity, Oct 31, 2017
Chamber sittings
First reading - Oct 31, 2017

We don't have a plain-language summary for First reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 2
Second reading
Apr 17, 2018
Completed

We don't have a plain-language summary for Second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Second reading, Apr 17, 2018
Referral to committee, Apr 17, 2018
End of stage activity, Apr 17, 2018
Chamber sittings
Debate at second reading - Dec 7, 2017

We don't have a plain-language summary for Debate at second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

We don't have a plain-language summary for Sponsor’s speech yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Debate at second reading - Mar 1, 2018

We don't have a plain-language summary for Debate at second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Debate at second reading - Apr 17, 2018

We don't have a plain-language summary for Debate at second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

We don't have a plain-language summary for Response speech yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 3
Consideration in committee
Jun 7, 2018
Completed

We don't have a plain-language summary for Consideration in committee yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Committee report presented with amendments, Jun 7, 2018
End of stage activity, Jun 7, 2018
Chamber sittings
Committee report presented with amendments - Jun 7, 2018

We don't have a plain-language summary for Committee report presented with amendments yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 4
Report stage
Jun 14, 2018
Completed

We don't have a plain-language summary for Report stage yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Committee report adopted as amended, Jun 14, 2018
End of stage activity, Jun 14, 2018
Chamber sittings
Debate at consideration of committee report - Jun 14, 2018

We don't have a plain-language summary for Debate at consideration of committee report yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 5
Third reading
Oct 23, 2018
Completed

We don't have a plain-language summary for Third reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Third reading, Oct 23, 2018
End of stage activity, Oct 23, 2018
Chamber sittings
Debate at third reading - Sep 20, 2018

We don't have a plain-language summary for Debate at third reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Third reading - Oct 23, 2018

We don't have a plain-language summary for Third reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 1
First reading
Oct 30, 2018
Completed

We don't have a plain-language summary for First reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

First reading, Oct 30, 2018
End of stage activity, Oct 30, 2018
Chamber sittings
First reading - Oct 30, 2018

We don't have a plain-language summary for First reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 2
Second reading
Dec 10, 2018
Completed

We don't have a plain-language summary for Second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Second reading and referral to committee, Dec 10, 2018
End of stage activity, Dec 10, 2018
Chamber sittings
Debate at second reading - Nov 20, 2018

We don't have a plain-language summary for Debate at second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

We don't have a plain-language summary for Sponsor’s speech yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

We don't have a plain-language summary for Response speech yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

We don't have a plain-language summary for Response speech yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Debate at second reading - Dec 10, 2018

We don't have a plain-language summary for Debate at second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 3
Consideration in committee
Mar 1, 2019
Completed

We don't have a plain-language summary for Consideration in committee yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Committee report presented with amendments, Mar 1, 2019
End of stage activity, Mar 1, 2019
Chamber sittings
Committee report presented with amendments - Mar 1, 2019

We don't have a plain-language summary for Committee report presented with amendments yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 4
Report stage
Apr 30, 2019
Completed

We don't have a plain-language summary for Report stage yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Concurrence at report stage, Apr 30, 2019
End of stage activity, Apr 30, 2019
Chamber sittings
Debate at report stage - Apr 30, 2019

We don't have a plain-language summary for Debate at report stage yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 5
Third reading
Apr 30, 2019
Completed

We don't have a plain-language summary for Third reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Third reading, Apr 30, 2019
End of stage activity, Apr 30, 2019
Chamber sittings
Debate at third reading - Apr 30, 2019

We don't have a plain-language summary for Debate at third reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Debate and sitting links point to official parliamentary sources when LEGISinfo publishes them. Any plain-language discussion summaries should be generated from those official texts and reviewed before public display.

Vote Summary

No published recorded division

This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.

Sponsor
Salma Ataullahjan
Senator | Conservative Party of Canada | Ontario
Jurisdiction
Federal Parliament

No published representative vote breakdown

This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.

Official sources

This plain-English summary is based on official legislative sources and public records. It is intended for civic education and is not legal advice.

How this data is sourced