Is commercial surrogacy becoming legal in Canada?

On May 29, 2018, a Canadian politician, Mr. Anthony Housefather,introduced a bill into the House of Commons with the aim of legalizing commercial surrogacy. This bill proposes the following:

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Assisted Human Reproduction Act

1 Section 2 of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act is amended by adding “and” at the end of paragraph (e) and by repealing paragraph (f).

2 Section 6 of the Act is replaced by the following:

Surrogate mother — requirements

6 No person shall counsel or induce a female person to become a surrogate mother, or perform any medical procedure to assist a female person to become a surrogate mother, knowing or having reason to believe that the female person is under 21 years of age, is incapable of consenting to becoming a surrogate mother or is being coerced by a third party to become a surrogate mother.

3 (1) Subsection 7(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Sperm or ovum donation — requirements

7 (1) Subject to section 9, no person shall counsel or induce a person to donate their sperm or ova, or perform any medical procedure to assist a person to donate their sperm or ova, knowing or having reason to believe that the person is under 18 years of age, is incap­able of consenting to the donation or is being coerced by a third party to donate.

(2) Subsection 7(3) of the Act is repealed.

4 (1) Subsection 12(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Reimbursement of expenditures

12 (1) No person shall, except in accordance with the regulations, reimburse any person for an expenditure incurred in the maintenance or transport of an in vitro embryo.

(2) Subsection 12(3) of the Act is repealed.

5 Paragraph 65(1)(e.1) of the Act is repealed.

As of now, it remains illegal to pay a surrogate in Canada.

If you would like to learn more about the surrogacy process in Ontario, please visit our surrogacy page here: http://familyhealthlaw.ca/surrogacy-law-faqs/