Canada adds PAD, PKC sections to national biometric authentication standard
Canada has updated its national biometric authentication standard to include new guidance on public key cryptography and presentation attack detection. The revised document aims to improve security, privacy, and fraud resistance for organizations integrating digital identity systems.
Why it matters
Standardization of biometric security is critical as governments and private sectors increasingly rely on digital identity for sensitive authentication.
Canada has updated its national standard for biometric authentication with a new and expanded edition. The national standards body seeks to ensure organizations increasingly adopting the technology and integrating it with digital identity consider the accuracy, but also end-user protection and fraud resistance.
CAN/DGSI 120:2026, “ Use of biometrics for authentication ” sets minimum requirements and provides guidance for responsible implementations, from privacy and security to consent and transparency.
Normative standards are drawn from CAN/DGSI 103-1, “ Digital Trust and Identity – Part 1: Fundamentals ” and the ISO/IEC 24760 identity management framework. The former builds on Canada’s code of practice for digital identity , based on the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF), which was approved by DGSI last year.
The second edition of the standard from the Digital Governance Standards Institute (DGSI) nearly doubles the publication’s length, from 13 to 25 pages, compared to the first edition published in 2024.
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