CCLA Opposes Expansion of Arrest Powers to Transit Special Constables Under Public Substance Use Law

Toronto — The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) has filed submissions to the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General opposing a proposed regulation that would expand enforcement powers under the Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act, 2025 (RPCISA) to transit special constables.

The proposed regulation would prescribe transit special constables as “officers” under the RPCISA, granting them broad, discretionary powers to arrest, detain, compel identification, and seize property. CCLA was strongly opposed the passage of Bill 6, the Loi sur des municipalités plus sûres, which created the RPCISA and we now raise serious concerns about extending these coercive, police-equivalent powers into public transit spaces.

“Expanding arrest and detention powers in public transit risks deepening the criminalization of poverty, substance use, and disability,” said Howard Sapers, Executive Director of CCLA. “Public safety must not come at the expense of constitutional rights and human dignity.”

CCLA’s submissions warn that the proposal weakens several protections protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including, liberty, and security of the person, protection against unreasonable search and seizure, freedom from arbitrary detention and equality rights.

Expanding the state actors empowered to deprive individuals of liberty often in circumstances linked to health conditions, poverty, or homelessness further endangering their security of the person and dignity interests.

CCLA’s submissions emphasize that enforcement of the RPCISA has disproportionate impacts on unhoused individuals, people who use substances, Indigenous, Black and other racialized communities, 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals, and people with disabilities, including those with mental health conditions.

“Public transit systems are essential public services and these spaces are heavily surveilled where racial profiling and social-status-based enforcement have been well documented” said Harini Sivalingam, Director of Equality at CCLA. “Expanding these powers risks increasing racial profiling and escalating health crises into criminal law encounters and displacing vulnerable individuals into less safe environments.”

CCLA urges the government to not prescribe transit special constables as officers under the RPCISA and instead pursue health-focused, trauma-informed, and evidence-based responses, including expanded harm-reduction services and crisis-response supports. A rights-respecting approach must prioritize health, dignity, and access to essential public services over criminalization.

Read CCLA’s full submissions ici.