Not legal advice. This guide explains the general rules in plain English. For a specific situation, such as a dispute, a regulated industry or a recording you plan to use as evidence, talk to a lawyer.
AI recorders make recording a meeting effortless, which is exactly why it is worth knowing the rules first. In Canada there are three separate questions: is it a crime, is it allowed under privacy law, and is it allowed by your employer or client? The answer can be yes to the first and no to the third.
1. The Criminal Code: one-party consent
Section 184 of the Criminal Code makes it an offence to knowingly intercept a private communication with a device. The exception that matters for most people is in section 184(2)(a): the rule does not apply to someone who has the consent, express or implied, of the person who made the communication or the person it was meant for.
In practice this is called one-party consent. If you are a participant in the conversation, your own consent generally counts, so recording a meeting you are part of is generally not a crime. What is a crime is recording a conversation you are not part of, such as leaving a recorder running in a room after you leave.
“Not a crime” is a low bar. The next two questions are where most real problems come from.
2. Privacy law: when a business records
When an organization records people in the course of commercial activity, federal privacy law (PIPEDA) applies, unless a province has its own law that covers it. Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec have their own private-sector privacy laws. Ontario does not have a general one, so PIPEDA generally applies to Ontario businesses’ commercial activities.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s guidance on recording customer calls sets out what it expects:
- Tell people they are being recorded.
- State the purpose clearly, and use the recording only for that purpose. The OPC warns against saying “quality assurance” if the recording will be used for other things.
- Ask for consent. If someone continues after being told the call is recorded and why, consent is implied.
- Offer an alternative to anyone who objects.
- Limit retention and keep the recording only as long as needed.
- Allow access: people can ask to get a copy of the recording later.
That guidance is about customer calls, but it is a sound template for any business meeting with clients or suppliers.
3. Workplace and client rules
Recording colleagues is where people get into trouble even when the law allows it. Many employers have policies that ban recording meetings without permission, and secretly recording coworkers can be treated as misconduct. Note that PIPEDA generally covers employee information only at federally regulated employers, so for most Ontario private-sector workplaces, the employer’s own policy is the rule that bites.
Clients add another layer. Contracts and confidentiality agreements often restrict recording or sending meeting content to outside services. Ontario courts also recognize a civil claim for serious, intentional intrusions on privacy (the “intrusion upon seclusion” tort), which is another reason not to record covertly.
4. The AI part: where the audio goes
An AI recorder does not just store audio; it sends it to a cloud service for transcription and summary. Before recording work meetings, check:
- Does your employer or client allow meeting audio to be processed by an outside service?
- Where does the vendor process and store the data, and for how long?
- Can you delete recordings and transcripts, and does deletion include the vendor’s copies?
- Does the vendor use your recordings to train its AI? Look for the setting and the policy wording.
Vendors’ security certifications are useful signals, but they don’t answer whether your organization permits the use.
A simple script and checklist
At the start of the meeting, say something like:
“I’d like to record this meeting so I can send accurate notes and actions. The audio will be transcribed by [tool] and I’ll delete it after [timeframe]. Is everyone OK with that?”
Then:
- If anyone objects, stop the recording and take notes by hand.
- Put the recording notice in the meeting invite as well.
- Use the recording only for the purpose you stated.
- Delete it on the timeline you promised.
- Never leave a recorder running in a conversation you are not part of.
Once a meeting is recorded, our meeting-to-action-list workflow shows how to turn it into decisions and actions. If you are choosing a device, see our AI recorder comparison.
Common questions
Does this apply to Teams or Zoom calls?
The same three questions apply to video calls. Most meeting platforms announce when a recording starts, which helps with notice, but it doesn’t replace telling people why you are recording and what happens to the file. Recording a call with a separate device, such as an AI recorder next to your laptop, gives no platform notice at all, so say it out loud.
Do the rules differ in Quebec, British Columbia or Alberta?
The Criminal Code applies across Canada. For privacy law, these three provinces have their own private-sector laws that are recognized as substantially similar to PIPEDA, and Alberta’s and British Columbia’s also cover employee information. If you work in one of those provinces, read the provincial privacy commissioner’s guidance.
Can I use a recording as evidence in a dispute?
That depends on the dispute, the forum and how the recording was made. Ask a lawyer before relying on one.
What about recording at a client’s site?
Treat the client’s rules as the binding ones. Ask before the meeting, confirm it in writing if the meeting matters, and follow any site policy on devices.