Parliamentary Committee Notes: Security Screening Program - CSIS
Issue
The Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security has expressed its intention to discuss the security screening process in place to review permanent residence and citizenship application to ensure that individuals who have engaged in acts of terror are unable to enter Canada. It is expected that members of the Committee will enquire specifically on CSIS’ role in the process, and its capacity to handle the current workload.
Proposed Response
- The Government of Canada takes all potential threats very seriously. Our top priority is to protect the health and safety of Canadians. Multiple departments and agencies work together at many stages to preserve national security.
- Upon request or referral from other departments, CSIS’ security screening mandate supports immigration-related security screening.
- Each file received is reviewed and analyzed based on information and intelligence available to the Service.
- While an important element of the decision-making process, CSIS provides advice and assessments; it does not determine an individual’s eligibility or admissibility to enter or gain status in Canada.
- The process for developing these assessments varies from case to case, but involves a range of tested techniques and methodologies to complete this crucial function in the immigration system.
- An invaluable resource, which CSIS leverages often in the screening process, is the robust network of trusted partners and the information they have to supplement the Service’s own holdings.
- Security screening prior to arrival is a global effort that relies on daily cooperation both domestically and internationally.
- In the vast majority of cases, the Government of Canada security screening process is a reliable and consistent method of identifying potential threat actors seeking to enter Canada.
Background
Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, 62, and Mostafa Eldidi, 26, are two terrorism suspects arrested by the RCMP on July 28, 2024, for credible threats to Canada’s national security.
There has been considerable media coverage of this case, specifically on the security screening processes for immigration-related applications and how those with alleged ISIS ties were admitted to Canada.
At this time, specific details of this case cannot be disclosed as a publication ban is in place. This prohibits the publication of any information, evidence, or representations made at or in anticipation of a bail hearing, so as to not prejudice the ability of the police and the prosecutors to conduct a criminal trial.
Under its mandate for Immigration and Citizenship screening, CSIS provides security advice on permanent resident and citizenship applicants; persons applying for temporary resident visas (whether visitors, foreign students or temporary foreign workers); and persons applying for refugee status in Canada.
Canada’s standard security screening approach is a robust process that leverages biometrics (fingerprints and photographs) along with biographic information to ensure that risks to national security and public safety are reduced and the integrity of our immigration system is strong.
The responsibility for making a decision regarding a person’s admissibility into Canada remains with IRCC or, in the case of refugee applicants, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.
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