Question Period Note: Revocation of Government Security Clearance

What is the security process to revoke government security clearances of individuals and specifically for individual spying or acting on behalf of a foreign government.

As part of its mandate, ESDC continues to strengthen and enhance its control mechanisms to prevent, detect and address fraud, error, and abuse.

ESDC/Service Canada is committed to safeguarding Canadians’ personal information and delivering government services with the utmost integrity.

While conducting internal investigations, ESDC consults with the appropriate Intelligence and Law Enforcement organizations to refer cases as required.

One of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s mandates is to investigate threats to national security for the purpose of providing security assessments or advice to departments of the Government of Canada.

From January 1, 2016 to February 9, 2023, 64 ESDC/Service Canada employees had their security clearance revoked following a review for cause process. Notably, one individual has had their security clearance revoked in 2019 based on the conclusions of an investigation conducted by CSIS that determined they acted on behalf of a foreign government.

As a result, these employees lost the employer’s trust and were terminated as they no longer met their terms of employment.

The Treasury Board Secretariat’s Standard on Security Screening is the guiding policy under which a “review for cause” is conducted to determine a public servant’s ability to maintain a security clearance. This administrative action could result in the termination of an individual’s employment because a security clearance is a condition of employment. In determining reliability, the question to be answered is whether the individual can be trusted to safeguard information, assets, and facilities, and be relied upon not to abuse the trust that might be accorded and to perform the assigned duties in a manner that will reflect positively on and not pose a security risk to the Government of Canada.

With regard to CSIS, due to its mandate and specific operational requirements, and to protect the safety and security of Canadians, CSIS does not disclose details related to its personnel or operations. More broadly through CSIS’ Government Security Screening program, CSIS conducts investigations and provides security assessments and advice to assist federal government departments and agencies in deciding to grant, deny, or revoke security clearances. These decisions lie with each department or agency, and not with CSIS.

The Deputy Minister of ESDC designates the Chief Security Officer (CSO) responsible for managing the departmental Security program with all the functions, roles and responsibilities assigned to that position. The CSO is also responsible for the internal investigation into allegations, complaints and incidents or internal/external wrongdoing or other adverse activities by employees, including the authority to grant, deny or revoke reliability status.

From January 1, 2016, to February 9, 2023, 64 ESDC/Service Canada employees had their security status revoked following a review for cause process, which determined security-related vulnerabilities that put into question the employees’ reliability and trustworthiness. As a result, the employees lost the employer’s trust and were terminated as they no longer met their terms of employment. For sensitivity reasons, we cannot provide additional information on specific cases.

Employment and Social Development Canada

year

(a) how many individuals have had their security clearances revoked for cause (i.e. not as a result of retirement or resignation)

(b) of the revocations in (a), how many were due to the individual spying or otherwise acting on behalf of a foreign government

2016

2

0

2017

0

0

2018

3

0

2019

7

1

2020

1

0

2021

37

0

2022

13

0

2023

1

0

None