AI law comparison · Data verified 2026-08-22
Québec Law 25 vs GDPR Article 22
Québec Law 25 and GDPR Article 22 are two of the 169 AI and data regulations Aegis Firma tracks. They have different scopes, effective dates, and penalties — and many businesses fall under both. Here is the side-by-side, drawn directly from the regulatory registry.
Find which laws apply to my businessSide by side
Summary of publicly available regulatory text. Verify against current official sources before relying on this for compliance decisions. Not legal advice.
The key difference
GDPR Article 22 takes effect first, so it is usually the more urgent of the two. Québec Law 25 tracks 4 compliance requirements and GDPR Article 22 tracks 5. They are not interchangeable — meeting one does not discharge the other. The practical question is not which law is “stricter,” but which of them — or both — actually applies to your business.
Québec Law 25 — Automated Decisions & Privacy (Act 25 / Bill 64)
Québec's Act to modernize legislative provisions respecting the protection of personal information (Law 25 / Bill 64) is Canada's strictest provincial privacy law, fully in force since September 22, 2024. Section 12.1 requires organizations to disclose when decisions significantly affecting individuals are made exclusively by automated means (AI), explain the factors involved on request, and allow individuals to pres…
Full Québec Law 25 requirementsEU GDPR Article 22 — Automated Decision-Making & AI Profiling
GDPR Article 22 (in force since May 25, 2018) gives EU and EEA residents the right not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing — including AI profiling — that produces legal or similarly significant effects (credit scores, hiring, insurance pricing, content moderation). Organizations must inform individuals of automated processing, provide meaningful explanations of logic, implement human revi…
Full GDPR Article 22 requirementsCommon questions
Could both Québec Law 25 and GDPR Article 22 apply to my business?
Yes. Québec Law 25 and GDPR Article 22 are separate regulations with separate scopes — a business can fall under both at once. Québec Law 25 covers Applies to any enterprise (including non-profits and foreign entities) that collects, holds, uses, or communicates personal information about Québec residents i… GDPR Article 22 covers GDPR Art. If your operations meet both scopes, you must comply with both. Aegis Firma's free scan checks all 169 tracked regulations against your business profile so you do not have to read each law to find out.
Which has the higher maximum penalty — Québec Law 25 or GDPR Article 22?
Québec Law 25: Two-tier: (1) CAI-imposed Administrative Monetary Penalties, up to the greater of C$10,000,000 or 2% of worldwide turnover; (2) court-imposed penal fines (Section 91 offences, CAI-initiated prosecution), C$15,000 to the greater of C$25,000,000 or 4% of worldwide turnover, doubled for repeat offences. GDPR Article 22: €20,000,000 or 4% of global annual turnover — whichever is higher (GDPR Art. 83(5)) Penalty structures differ by regulator and violation type — read each law's full page for the cure periods and per-violation detail.
When does each law take effect?
Québec Law 25 — effective 2023-09-22, enforcement from 2024-09-22. GDPR Article 22 — effective 2018-05-25. Dates last verified against official sources on 2026-08-22 and 2026-08-22 respectively.
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