Is the Assisted Human Reproduction Act in force?
The Assisted Human Reproduction Act (AHR) received Royal Assent on March 29, 2004. However, as a new licensing regime and regulations take time to implement, the coming into force of the AHR Act follows an approach that accounts for this. On April 22, 2004, all of the prohibitions (sections 5 through 9) came into force except section 8 which pertains to the prohibition on the use of reproductive material or in vitro embryos without consent. Section 8 along with its supporting regulations came into force on December 1, 2007. An explanation of prohibited activities is available at the Health Canada Web site. The “controlled activities” sections (10 to 12) set out the controlled activities related to AHR that may only be carried out with a licence and in accordance with the regulations. These include activities involving human reproductive material for the purpose of creating an embryo, and activities involving the use of an in vitro embryo. Section 13 requires persons who undertake contr
