The Communications Security Establishment, formerly called the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), is the Government of Canada's national cryptologic agency. It is responsible for foreign signals intelligence (SIGINT) and communications security (COMSEC), protecting federal government electronic information and communication networks, and is the technical authority for cyber security and information assurance.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service is a foreign intelligence service and security agency of the federal government of Canada. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world and conducting covert action within Canada and abroad. CSIS reports to the Minister of Public Safety, and is subject to review by the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency.
The Auditor General of Canada is a Supreme audit institution which acts as an officer to the Parliament of Canada tasked with highlighting accountability and oversight by conducting independent financial audits of federal government's operations. These performance audits, known as the Auditor-General's Report provide members of parliament with objective evidence to help them examine the government's activities and hold it to account and improve good governance among public officers included.
The Canada Border Services Agency is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border control, immigration enforcement, and customs services in Canada.
The following list outlines the structure of the federal government of Canada, the collective set of federal institutions which can be grouped into the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. In turn, these are further divided into departments, agencies, and other organizations which support the day-to-day function of the Canadian state.
Terrorism and mass attacks in Canada includes acts of terrorism, as well as mass shootings, vehicle-ramming attacks, mass stabbings, and other such acts committed in Canada that people may associate with terroristic tactics but have not been classified as terrorism by the Canadian legal system.
The privacy commissioner of Canada is a non-partisan ombudsman and officer of the Parliament of Canada. The commissioner investigates complaints regarding violations of the federal Privacy Act, which deals with personal information held by the Government of Canada or the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), which deals with personal information held in federally regulated private sector industries. The commissioner reports to Parliament.
The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner of Canada is an entity of the Parliament of Canada. The commissioner is an independent officer of Parliament, who administers the Conflict of Interest Act and the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons and is supported in this role by the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. The position came into effect on July 9, 2007, with the coming into force of the Conflict of Interest Act. This act, in turn, was enacted as part of the Federal Accountability Act.
The Security Intelligence Review Committee was a committee of Privy Councillors that was empowered to serve as an independent oversight and review body for the operations of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). The SIRC was established in 1984 as a result of the reorganization of Canadian intelligence agencies recommended by the McDonald Commission investigating the illegal activities of the former RCMP Security Service.
The national security and intelligence advisor is a public servant who advises the prime minister of Canada on security and intelligence matters. The position is supported by the Security and Intelligence Secretariat and the Intelligence Assessment Staff and holds the rank of associate secretary in the Privy Council Office (PCO).
The Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre is an independent federal organization tasked with assessing threats of terrorism to Canada and Canadian interests abroad. It is the only federal organization with the specific responsibility of analyzing terrorism threats related to Canada.
The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada is the national financial intelligence agency of Canada. FINTRAC was established in 2000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act to facilitate detection and investigation of money laundering. Its mandate was expanded in December 2001 following amendments to the Proceeds of Crime Act to also disclose financial intelligence to other Canadian intelligence and law enforcement agencies with respect to suspected terrorist financing. FINTRAC's mandate was further expanded in 2006 under Bill C-25 to enhance the client identification, record-keeping and reporting measures, established a registration regime for money services businesses and foreign exchange dealers, and created new offences for not registering.
The Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada is one of the Independent Oversight Offices created as part of the Canadian Federal Accountability Act. The Office investigates wrongdoing in the federal public sector and helps protect whistleblowers, and those who participate in investigations, from reprisal. Harriet Solloway is the current Commissioner, named on September 27, 2023.
Corruption in Canada is the use of political power for private gain by Canadian government officials.
Murray Rankin is a Canadian lawyer, politician and public law expert who served as British Columbia's Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. A member of the New Democratic Party, Rankin represented the riding of Oak Bay-Gordon Head in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2020 until 2024. Rankin previously served as the federal Member of Parliament for Victoria from 2012 to 2019, with senior roles including Justice and Attorney General Critic, Health Critic, and NDP House Leader. From 2019 to 2020, Rankin was head of Canada's National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA), overseeing all national security and intelligence activities carried out by the Government of Canada. Previously, he was a professor of law at the University of Victoria, where he taught environmental and administrative law.
The Anti-terrorism Act, 2015, introduced as, and referred to as Bill C-51, is an act of the Parliament of Canada passed by the Harper government that broadened the authority of Canadian government agencies to share information about individuals easily. It also expanded the mandate of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and was described as the first comprehensive reform of this kind since 2001.
The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians is a body composed of members of the House of Commons and Senate which reviews the activities of the Government of Canada's national security and intelligence agencies. The committee also performs strategic and systematic reviews of the legislative, regulatory, policy, expenditure and administrative frameworks under which national security activities are conducted.
The Edward Snowden revelation that the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), without a warrant, used free airport Wi-Fi service to gather the communications of all travellers using the service and to track them after they had left the airport sparked an ongoing unfounded concern about mass surveillance in Canada. It was reported but unverified that the number of Canadians affected by this surveillance is unknown apparently even to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
The National Security and Intelligence Review Agency is an independent government agency organized to review all national security and intelligence activities carried out by the Government of Canada. NSIRA was established in June 2019 to replace the Security Intelligence Review Committee, which was limited to reviewing the activities of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).
The National Security Act, 2017 is a Canadian statute enacted by the Parliament of Canada to reform the oversight of the National Security Agencies of Canada, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Communications Security Establishment (CSE). It also makes various adjustments to supporting legislation, including the National Defense Act, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act the Communications Security Establishment Act and the Criminal Code to support these new mechanisms.
