Parliamentary Committee Notes: Overview of Foreign Interference

Date: April 17, 2023

Branch/Agency: NCSB/PS

Proposed Response:

Background

Foreign interference (FI) includes activities undertaken by state or non-state actors that are harmful to Canada's interests and are clandestine or deceptive, or involve a threat to any person. Techniques used to conduct FI can include espionage, sabotage, illicit and corrupt financing, and other threat activities. Foreign states leverage these activities to advance their strategic interests including: domestic stability, seeking geopolitical influence, economic advancement, revision of the rules-based international order, and military advantage. These activities can be directed at Canadians, or residents of Canada, or against Canadian institutions to advance their strategic interests at the expense of our national interests and values.

Through its mandate to investigate threats to the security of Canada, including foreign interference, CSIS has seen multiple instances of foreign states targeting Canadian institutions and communities. As well, the RCMP is aware that illegal state-backed activities are committed against Canadians and Canadian interests, and investigates these activities further to its mandate. The scope of potential FI activities can be broad, encompassing a range of techniques that are familiar to intelligence agencies. These include human intelligence operations, the use of state-sponsored or foreign influenced media and disinformation campaigns, and the use of sophisticated cyber tools.

Several reports have highlighted the threat of FI in Canada. For example, in its 2021 Public Report, released in April 2022, CSIS stated that foreign interference activities in Canada continue to be sophisticated, persistent, and pervasive. Espionage and foreign-influenced activities are directed at Canadian entities both inside and outside of Canada, and directly threaten Canada's national security and strategic interests. Furthermore, the 2019 Annual Report of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) outlined foreign interference activities, including the targeting of Canadian institutions by threat actors. The NSICOP (2019) report pointed to Russia and China as being particularly active in Canada and made a number of recommendations for Canada to bolster its response to the threat of FI.

Contacts:

Prepared by: NCSB/NSOD
Approved by: Sebastien Aubertin-Giguere, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, 613-990-4976

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