Canadian Photography Laws » The Laws » Provincial Law » Quebec » Human Rights Code
In Quebec, the Quebec Human Rights Code grants all humans the right to their private life. For photography, this broadly-worded right allows each individual person in Quebec control over the use of their image (meaning, a photo of them).
The Quebec Charter Of Human Rights and Freedoms, Chapter I, 5.:Every person has a right to respect for his private life.
This was recently upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada in a case (Aubrey v. Edition Vice-Versa Inc.) where a photographer published a photo of an individual in public, without the subject’s permission. The image was nothing special, it was taken from a public place of a person in public, and did not injure their reputation. However, the Supreme Court of Canada said that the photographer should not have published the photo without the permission of the person photographed, and ruled in the favour of the subject of the photo. They did note that there are exceptions for newsworthy events, people who are in the public eye, like politicians or celebrities, or if the person was incidental to the photo, and not the main subject(s).
References
- The Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (PDF)
- Aubrey v. Edition Vice-Versa Inc.