Activists, politicians mark World AIDS Day calling for criminal law reform

OTTAWA — AIDS activists are calling on the Liberals to stick with a Trudeau government promise to reform the laws on HIV disclosure, and to get Canada’s efforts to end the pandemic back on track.

The HIV Legal Network says Canada’s stalled progress on preventing new HIV cases — especially among Indigenous people in the Prairies — is driving up government spending by millions of dollars.

The group is calling on Justice Minister Sean Fraser to take up the Trudeau government’s stalled plan to reform laws used to prosecute people with HIV who don’t disclose their status to sexual partners, even when it’s impossible for them to transmit the virus.

To mark World AIDS Day, MPs and senators who are part of the Global Equality Caucus are asking Ottawa to boost spending for treatment and prevention to put Canada on track to meet global targets.

The Public Health Agency of Canada reported a slight decline in new HIV cases last year but Ottawa’s own statistics put Canada behind most G7 countries on efforts to end the spread of the disease.

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS says funding cuts by countries like Canada and the U.S. — which have helped to reduce global funding for AIDS campaigns in developing countries by about a third — are undermining progress on ending the epidemic worldwide.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 1, 2025.