it was updated, Its a licence condition so if your fishing for anything where there IMO is a reasonable likelihood of catching a rockfish, you should have it on board.
Breaching a licence condition is an appearance notice, so I doubt a DFO officer would give you one probably just a warning.
I would phone your local DFO office and see how they are going to enforce it.
https://notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=view_notice&DOC_ID=220071&ID=all
ROCKFISH DESCENDING DEVICES
The use of a descending device is now required by condition of licence to
assist in the conservation and survivability of rockfish being returned to the
water. Because of their closed swim bladders, rockfish brought to the surface
suffer barotrauma, causing the swim bladder to inflate and reducing the
probability of their survival upon release. Handle catch as little as possible,
using wet hands to preserve the protective slime coat, and return to the water
at depth of capture as quickly as possible (under two minutes). To avoid
catching rockfish, move to another fishing location.