By Harinder Mahil
New Democratic Party MP Jenny Kwan tabled a Private Member’s Bill in the House of Commons on September 19, 2025 (Bill C-233) to close loopholes in Canada’s arms export laws that allow Canadian-made weapons and components to end up in the hands of governments accused of war crimes and human rights abuses. This Bill is likely to come up for discussion in the Parliament this month and deserves our full support.
The Bill, if passed, would:
Apply export controls to all arms, parts, and technology.
Remove the U.S. and other country-based exemptions from the Export Control List.
Close a major transparency and oversight gap.
Require end-use certificates to prevent diversion to human rights abusers.
· Adopt international law prohibiting exports linked to genocide or crimes against humanity.
· Require annual reports to Parliament on what weapons or weapon parts Canada exports and where they go.
The United Nations adopted the Arms Trade Treaty on December 24, 2014. It sets global standards for the trade of conventional arms to reduce suffering, prevent illicit trafficking, and stop weapons from being used for war crimes, genocide or terrorism. It requires countries to regulate exports of major conventional weapons, parts and ammunition.
The objective of the Arms Trade Treaty is to foster peace and security by regulating the international trade in conventional weapons and ensuring transparency.
It is interesting to note that Canada did not become a signatory to the Treaty as soon as it was adopted. In fact, it did not adopt the Treaty until September 17, 2019 and was 104th country to do so. As of now, only 117 countries have ratified the Treaty.
When Canada joined the Arms Trade Treaty in 2019, it left out one big exception – exports to the United States. The U.S. is the largest buyer of Canadian military goods. Once there, those Canadian-made parts can be built into weapons systems and shipped to countries accused of bombing civilians or violating human rights — with no transparency, no accountability, and with no oversight. That is wrong and must end.
Reports from Amnesty International and Arms Embargo Now have shown that Canadian components have been used in conflicts like Gaza and Yemen. This must stop.
According to Alex Neve, former Secretary-General of Amnesty International Canada, more than one billion dollars worth of arms and parts are sent to the US every year and we have no idea how these are used and where they end up.
Canadians are peace-loving people and do not want to see Canada become complicit in war and repression.
This vote later this month is one of the clearest chances Parliament has had to make Canada’s actions match its words. The Bill, if passed, would require Canada to apply its arms export rules consistently, so weapons can’t be secretly routed through third countries and used in violations of international law.
This Bill is about transparency, accountability, and making sure Canadian companies will not profit from war and repression.
I hope all Members of Parliament will support this important Bill.
Harinder Mahil is a human rights activist and is secretary of Dr. Hari Sharma Foundation.
