Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP

With more than 1,400 legal professionals in 19 cities worldwide, Gowling WLG provides its clients with in-depth expertise in key global sectors and a suite of legal services at home and abroad. We see the world through our clients’ eyes, and collaborate across countries, offices, service areas and sectors to help them succeed, no matter how challenging the circumstances. Our firm offers a range of services to assist clients in bolstering their privacy and data management policies and protocols. From conducting privacy impact assessments to advising on data retention policies, our professionals provide proactive security strategies, training and legal support on all data-related issues. Wendy Wagner is the leader of Gowling WLG’s Privacy & Data Protection Group in Canada. Based in Ottawa, Wendy advises organizations on privacy compliance and data protection issues, including compliance with Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), privacy laws applicable to the private sector, and laws governing the protection of health information. She routinely assists Chief Privacy Officers in conducting privacy impact assessments, drafting privacy compliance programs and policies, and drafting contractual provisions to protect employee and customer data. Wendy also advises on cross-border data transfers and successor obligations, and assists companies with reporting and managing data breach incidents. She regularly advises on compliance with Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) and has extensive expertise in requests under Canada's Access to Information Act and provincial freedom of information legislation. Over the course of her career, Wendy has been recognized as a leading lawyer by Chambers Global, The Legal 500 and Lexpert.

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Wendy Wagner

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Publications

• Canada Steps Toward Open Banking: Bill C-15 Delivers Data Portability (With Lingering Questions)With the passage of Bill C-15, the federal government’s budget implementation bill, Canada takes a decisive step toward a consumer-driven banking framework. This article examines the bill’s data portability provisions, including a new data mobility regime added to PIPEDA, and the concerns raised by privacy authorities before Parliament.12 May 2026
• Canadian provinces continue legislative updates, with federal privacy reform on holdIn the wake of Parliament’s prorogation and a snap federal election, several federal privacy bills stalled, but the provinces are stepping up to advance their own privacy reforms.8 May 2025
• Canada introduces Bill C-63, the Online Harms ActThe recently proposed Online Harms Act, introduced in Bill C-63, is Canada’s latest attempt at addressing online harms. This article discusses the substantive provisions of the Act, and amendments to other Acts proposed by Bill C-63.9 May 2024
• Canada’s Proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA)This article summarizes the substantive highlights and legislative progress of the proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA), a part of Bill C-27, which the Canadian Parliament is presently debating.24 January 2023
• Modernizing Canada’s Federal Privacy LawThis article discusses Bill C-27, the recently introduced Federal legislation to update Canada’s private sector privacy law. The bill revives some aspects of the former bill (C-11), refines others, and introduces several novel provisions.14 November 2022
• Clearview AI: Alignment in Global Enforcement ApproachInvestigations into US facial recognition firm Clearview AI by Canadian regulators and UK/Australia yeilded similar findings notwithstanding significant distinctions in legal regimes. Global enforcement cooperation may be viable even without global consenus on the legal framework for privacy regulation.14 March 2022
• Part II: What Could Privacy Reform Look Like in Canada? Insights from Bill C-11Bill C-11 died on the order paper in August when the Canadian federal election was called. In this article we explore how the elements of the bill may provide some insight into what privacy reform could look like in the next parliament. We also discuss the possibility of new provincial privacy legislation in Ontario in the wake of Bill C-11’s death.4 October 2021
• Dramatic Changes are Coming to the Privacy Landscape in CanadaThis article discusses how the proposed legislation seeks to strike a balance between protecting consumer’s personal information, and allowing industry and innovation.5 March 2021