Can I record a conversation between two other people?
Short answer
No, apart from limited exceptions: in Canada, section 184(1) of the Criminal Code makes intercepting a private communication an offence, and the exception in subsection (2)(a) protects only a person who has the consent of the originator of the communication or of the person it was intended for.
In detail
The difference between recording your own conversation and recording other people's is decisive. In the first case, one of the participants consents — you. In the second, nobody has consented, and the exception in subsection 184(2)(a) does not apply.
On the civil side, article 36 of the Civil Code expressly covers intentionally intercepting or using a person's private communications, and keeping their private life under observation by any means, as possible invasions of privacy. Section 49 of the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms allows the victim of an unlawful interference to obtain the cessation of the interference and compensation for the prejudice, and punitive damages where the interference is unlawful and intentional.
Evidence obtained this way runs up against article 2858 of the Civil Code: the court must, even on its own initiative, reject anything obtained in breach of fundamental rights and freedoms where its use would tend to bring the administration of justice into disrepute.
What to document
If you believe you have been recorded or watched this way, note the date, the place, the device you saw, who was present and what tipped you off — it is that dated record that documents the invasion, not the recording itself.
Put your facts in writing, free. Writing your version down early, keeping your documents dated and preparing your questions for a lawyer: the tool is there to document, never to advise.
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Official sources
- Criminal Code, s. 184 (Laws of Canada)
- Civil Code of Quebec, arts. 36 and 2858 (Légis Québec)
- Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, ss. 5 and 49 (Légis Québec)
Related questions
- Can I film or photograph someone to prove what they are doing?
- How to present photos as evidence?
- Do my journal or personal notes count as evidence?
- Can I tell the judge what someone else told me?
- I have nothing in writing can I prove a verbal agreement?
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What this page is not
This is general legal information about the law of Quebec and Canada, dated and sourced. It is not legal advice, not a strategy, and not a prediction about the outcome of a case. In Quebec, only lawyers and notaries may give legal advice (Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, ss. 128 and 133). Laws and amounts change: the official source always prevails over us.