An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sterilization procedures)

Bill S-228 was a Senate Private Member's Bill amending the Criminal Code (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46) to address forced sterilization procedures on Indigenous women, persons with disabilities, and other marginalized populations. Brought after the 2018 federal Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights report on coerced sterilizations of Indigenous women in Saskatchewan (estimated 100-plus cases since 1970 per Senator Yvonne Boyer's investigative work), the 2022 federal class-action settlement that the Saskatchewan Health Authority paid $35 million in damages, and the 2024 federal apology to Indigenous-women victims. The bill would have added forced-sterilization as a discrete Criminal Code offence with maximum penalties under sections 268 and 269.