Assisted Human Reproduction Act

The Assisted Human Reproduction Act is law enacted by the Parliament of Canada. Its purpose is to regulate assisted human reproduction and related research. It is one of the most comprehensive pieces of legislation in the world concerning reproductive technologies and related research. It was introduced and passed in 2004 and was fully in force by 2007.
The Act was meant to provide Canadians with a system of licensing, monitoring, inspection and enforcement of activities relating to AHR in order to protect and promote Canadians' health, safety and values. It identifies prohibited activities, as well as controlled activities, which are AHR activities that can be performed in Canada but require a licence and adherence to the regulations. However, a 2010 Supreme Court case that ruled that certain sections of the Act exceeded the federal government's legislative power means that the scope of the Act's regulatory framework was significantly reduced.

Constitutional validity

On December 22, 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada declared some sections of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act unconstitutional. It was ruled that the sections listed below exceeded the legislative jurisdiction of the Parliament of Canada under the Constitution Act, 1867:

10,11,13: Certain provisions regarding controlled activities
14-18: Certain provisions regarding privacy and access to information
40, 40, 40, 40, 40, 44, 44: Certain provisions regarding administration

Status of Act's provisions

Sections	Current status
1-7
8
9
10-11
12
13-18
19
20
21-23
24, and of 24)
, and of 24
25-39
40 - subsections, and
40 - remainder of section
41-43
44 - subsections and
44 - remainder of section
45-59
60-71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78

Content

Prohibited activities

Prohibited activities, defined in sections 5 to 9 of the Act, are AHR activities that Parliament has determined to be ethically unacceptable or incompatible with Canadian values, or to pose significant risks to the health, safety and values of Canadians. These activities are not allowed in Canada. Prohibitions include:

Creating an in vitro embryo for any purpose other than creating a human being or improving or providing instruction in assisted reproduction procedures
Human cloning.
Pre-selecting or increasing the probability that an embryo will be a particular sex.
Transplanting a sperm, egg, embryo or foetus of a non-human life form into a human being, or using a sperm, egg, or in vitro embryo that was transplanted into a non-human life form to create a human being
Creating a hybrid for the purpose of reproduction, or transplanting a hybrid into a human being or non-human life form
Creating a chimera for any purpose, or transplanting a chimera into a human being or non-human life form
Using gametes or in vitro embryos without the consent of the donor of the gametes or embryo
Obtaining gametes from a person under 18 years of age
Paying, offering to pay, or advertising payment for sperm, eggs or in vitro embryos from donors or for the services of surrogate mothers

This last prohibition prevents the "commercialization" of human reproduction in Canada. While the Act currently allows donors and surrogate mothers to be reimbursed for legitimate expenses, Health Canada is developing specific regulations about what constitutes a legitimate expenditure.

Controlled activities

Controlled activities, set out in sections 10 to 12 of the Act, are AHR activities permitted if performed in accordance with regulations and by a licensed clinic or individual in licensed premises. However, section 10, which addressed the "use of human reproductive material," and section 11, which addressed "transgenics," were ruled ultra vires. Section 12, which addresses the "reimbursement of expenditures" for providing gametes and surrogacy services, is intra vires but is not yet in force.