On December 15, 2004 the Government of Canada proclaimed the Sex Offender Information Registration Act. In cooperation with the provinces and territories, the national sex offender registration program was subsequently implemented to enable police to have rapid access to information about convicted sex offenders. The legislation compels offenders who are convicted of designated sex offences to register specified information about themselves with the police for 10 or 20 years, or for life, depending on the offence.

The cornerstone of the legislation is the new National Sex Offender Database that will be maintained by the RCMP. The database may be searched by any police agency across the country. Police can query the system using specific criteria (i.e. geographical area, victim age) and produce lists or maps showing registered offenders whose victim profiles match those of an offence or who are residing in the area where an offence took place.

Access to the registry
The database will only be accessible to police agencies and will be used to investigate crimes of a sexual nature. The legislation prohibits public access to the information on the database and it cannot be used for the purposes of public notification.