The Government of Canada made a voluntary contribution of CAN$ 250,000 (ca. EUR 161,000) to the current Cybercrime@Octopus project and the follow-up global Octopus project. 

With this first voluntary contribution, Canada joins the State Parties, Observers to the Convention on Cybercrime and other public and private sector Organisations supporting the current Cybercrime@Octopus and the new Octopus initiative. 

These Council of Europe projects are aimed at assisting countries worldwide to implement the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, together with its First Additional Protocol on Xenophobia and Racism and its future Second Additional Protocol, to strengthen data protection and rule of law safeguards, while also supporting the Cybercrime Convention Committee (T-CY), the organisation of the Octopus Conferences and the implementation of online resources and tools of capacity building on cybercrime and electronic evidence including in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new contribution will thus provide support in particular to the functioning of the T-CY and the development of online tools and resources for the implementation of capacity building activities.

Canada has signed the Budapest Convention on the same day it became open for signature in November 2001 and has later ratified the Convention in 2015, being one of the 65 countries worldwide to have ratified the Convention on Cybercrime thus far.

 Cybercrime@Octopus project webpage

 Follow-up Octopus Project webpage