The Digital Governance Standards Institute (DGSI) has published a new National Standard of Canada: CAN/DGSI 127:2025, Age Assurance Technologies. This National Standard, the first of its kind in Canada, outlines minimum requirements and guidance for the responsible design, implementation, and use of technologies that estimate or verify an individual’s age.

Age assurance, an umbrella term encompassing age verification and age estimation, has become a critical component of digital safety practices. From biometric and document-based checks to behavioral profiling and cross-platform authentication, organizations are increasingly adopting technological solutions to meet evolving legal, ethical, and security obligations.

Why It Matters

As digital services become more embedded in everyday life, age-gating has emerged as a weak link in protecting young users. Traditional methods, like self-declared birthdates, are easy to bypass. Meanwhile, inconsistent use of verification tools raises both privacy and effectiveness concerns. This new standard provides much needed clarity and structure for organizations deploying age assurance systems in Canada and abroad.

Key Elements of the Standard

CAN/DGSI 127:2025 provides a structured approach to developing and deploying age assurance solutions while respecting privacy, minimizing risk, and maintaining proportionality.

Key components include:

• Privacy and Risk Management: Organizations are required to conduct both Privacy Impact Assessments and Child Rights Impact Assessments to ensure their age assurance practices align with Canadian law and international human rights obligations.
• Method Selection and Proportionality: The standard provides guidance on choosing the most appropriate age assurance method, such as biometrics, document verification, or capacity testing that is based on the level of risk, accuracy needed, and user context.
• Privacy-Centred Design: Age assurance systems must be built with Privacy by Design, Security by Design, and Data Minimization principles, and must support transparency, accessibility, and interoperability across jurisdictions.
• Data Protection and Governance: Strict limits are placed on the collection, use, and retention of personal data. Information must be used solely for age assurance, protected against misuse, and securely deleted once no longer needed.
• User Rights and Redress: The standard ensures that users are informed when AI is used and have access to clear, accessible processes to dispute inaccurate age determinations.

Supporting Responsible Innovation

With the publication of CAN/DGSI 127:2025, DGSI continues to support the development of digital environments that are privacy-preserving, rights-respecting, and safe for all users, especially children and youth. The standard complements Canada’s broader policy efforts on online safety and digital identity and offers practical implementation guidance for both public and private sector organizations.

For more information or to access the standard, visit CAN/DGSI 127

Get involved

The DGSI’s development process is collaborative and open to all, and anyone interested in contributing to the development of digital governance standards is encouraged to get involved. For more information on how to participate, contact:

Darryl Kingston
Executive Director
Digital Governance Standards Institute
darryl.kingston@dgc-cgn.org

 
For further details or media inquiries, please contact:

Shyra Wells
Communications and Knowledge Mobilization Lead
Digital Governance Council
shyra.craig@dgc-cgn.org

About the Digital Governance Standards Institute

The Digital Governance Standards Institute develops digital technology governance standards fit for global use. The Institute works with experts, as well as national and global partners and the public to develop national standards that reduce risk to Canadians and Canadian organizations adopting and using innovative digital technologies in today’s digital economy. The Institute is an independent division of the Digital Governance Council. To learn more about the organization and its initiatives, visit www.dgc-cgn.org or contact info@dgc-cgn.org.