Strategic Overview

1. PORTFOLIO AND DEPARTMENTAL OVERVIEW

1.1 Roles and Responsibilities

Public safety, national security and emergency management are critical to Canada’s prosperity and to the integrity of its social fabric. The Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Portfolio was established in 2003 by consolidating a range of responsibilities in the safety and security realm under one Minister.

The Portfolio is composed of the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (the Department , PS); and five agencies: Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP); the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), and the Parole Board of Canada (PBC), and three review bodies: the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP (CRCC), the Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI), and the RCMP External Review Committee (ERC).

The Portfolio is the biggest, non-military Portfolio in the Government of Canada. The Portfolio’s 2019-20 budget is more than $9.8 billion, and it employs more than 66,800 full-time equivalents working in every part of the country and internationally. Each organization contributes to the public safety agenda through its unique mandate and responsibilities.

The Department’s principal role is to bring strategic focus, coordination and direction to the government’s overall safety and security agenda. It plays a key role in the development, coordination and implementation of policies in the areas of national security, community safety, crime prevention, law enforcement and emergency management, and maintains a presence in regional offices across the country and in Washington, D.C. The Department provides transfer payments and support to various programs, including crime prevention, border policy, disaster mitigation, preparedness and recovery, search and rescue, serious and organized crime, countering radicalization to violence, cyber security and critical infrastructure. The largest include: Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements, First Nations Policing Program, National Disaster Mitigation Program, Gun and Gang Violence Action Fund and the National Crime Prevention Strategy.

The Department also maintains the Government Operations Centre (GOC), a 24/7 facility that supports preparedness and coordinates the integrated federal response to all-hazard events of national interest (e.g. the 2016 wildfire in Fort McMurray, the 2018 Danforth shooting, and the 2018 power and communications outages in the Magdalen Islands). The vast majority of the Department’s employees work in the National Capital Region, but regional offices are also located in five regions: Ontario, Quebec and Nunavut, Atlantic, Prairies and Northwest Territories, and Pacific (British Columbia and Yukon) regions.

The RCMP provides federal policing services to all Canadians and policing services under contract to the three territories, eight provinces (except Ontario and Quebec), more than 150 municipalities, more than 600 Indigenous communities and three international airports. The RCMP offers coordinated and integrated programs to all law enforcement and criminal justice officials in Canada to assist in the detection and investigation of crime, and to ensure sound prosecutions. This includes preventing, detecting and investigating offences against federal statutes; maintaining law and order; providing investigative and protective services to other federal departments and agencies; and providing Canadian and international law enforcement agencies with specialized police training and research, forensic laboratory services, identification services and informatics technology. The RCMP has liaison officers and criminal intelligence analysts deployed in other countries, and is engaged in peacekeeping and international capacity building. The RCMP is led by a Commissioner, who is appointed for an unspecified term.

The CBSA provides integrated border services by enforcing Canadian laws governing trade and travel (as well as international agreements and conventions), facilitating legitimate cross-border traffic, assessing and collecting duties and taxes and interdicting goods and people that pose a potential threat to Canada. This includes immigration enforcement, such as the removal of people who are inadmissible to Canada for terrorism, organized crimes, war crimes or crimes against humanity. The CBSA provides services at 1,174 points across Canada and abroad, including international airports, land ports of entry, and remote border crossings. The CBSA is led by a President, who is appointed to a term of no more than five years.

CSIS investigates and assesses activities that may be suspected of posing threats within or outside Canada, and include the authority to take threat reduction measures, subject to limitations. CSIS supports other government departments and agencies through its security screening programs, provides security assessments to Government and plays a critical role in immigration processes through security advice to CBSA and Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Upon request from the Minister of Foreign Affairs or the Minister of National Defence, CSIS collects foreign intelligence within Canada to support the Government’s broader national interests. CSIS has resources dispersed across Canada and internationally to investigate threats and to liaise with domestic and international partners working within Canada and abroad. CSIS is led by a Director, who is appointed to a term of no more than five years. This appointment can be renewed as long as the aggregate term does not exceed ten years.

CSC administers court-imposed sentences of two years or more for adult offenders, supervises offenders on various forms of conditional release in the community, and helps protect society by encouraging offenders to become law-abiding citizens while exercising reasonable, safe, secure and humane control. CSC also administers post-sentence supervision of offenders with Long-Term Supervision Orders for up to 10 years and provides services to victims of crime, such as information sharing and awareness building to support victims. It is responsible for the management of 43 institutions of various security levels, including four Indigenous healing lodges. CSC is led by a Commissioner, who is appointed for an unspecified term.

PBC is an independent administrative tribunal that has exclusive authority to grant, deny, cancel, terminate or revoke day parole and full parole for federal offenders and offenders in provinces and territories that do not have their own parole boards, and to authorize or approve temporary absences in prescribed cases. The Board also imposes conditions on any kind of conditional release and can order certain offenders to be held in prison until the end of their sentence. The PBC makes pardons, record suspensions and expungement decisions, and makes recommendations for the exercise of clemency through the Royal Prerogative of Mercy. The Board is led by a Chairperson who is appointed for a term of up to five years.

The CRCC is an independent agency created by Parliament to ensure that public complaints made about the conduct of RCMP members are examined fairly and impartially. The CRCC receives complaints from the public about the conduct of RCMP members; conducts reviews when complainants are not satisfied with the RCMP’s handling of their complaints; initiates complaints and investigations into RCMP conduct when it is in the public interest to do so; holds hearings; undertakes systemic reviews and reports findings and makes recommendations. The Commission consists of a Chairperson, who is appointed to a five-year term, and a maximum of four other members, one of whom may be named the Vice-Chairperson.

The primary responsibility of the OCI is to investigate and bring resolution to individual offender complaints. The Office conducts independent investigations into the problems of offender related to decisions, recommendations, acts or omissions related to the CSC that affect offenders either individually or as a group. The OCI may initiate an investigation based on a complaint from (or on behalf of) an offender, at the request of the Minister of Public Safety, or on its own initiative. The Office is also responsible for reviewing and making recommendations on CSC’s policies and procedures associated with the area of individual complaints to ensure that systemic areas of concern are identified and appropriately addressed. The Office is headed by a Correctional Investigator, who is appointed by the Governor in Council, for a term of up to five years.

The RCMP ERC provides civilian oversight of labour relations within the RCMP. It aims to promote fair and equitable relations by conducting independent reviews of certain types of grievances, appeals on formal disciplinary measures and demotion cases, and provides non-binding recommendations to the RCMP Commissioner. The Committee may institute hearings, summon witnesses, administer oaths and receive and accept evidence. The Committee is headed by a Chairperson, who is appointed to a three-year term.

You are answerable to Parliament for all organizations within the Portfolio and have full responsibility for the following statues: the Customs Act; DNA Identification Act; Sex Offender Information Registration Act; Firearms Act; Prison and Reformatories Act; Secure Air Travel Act; and Prevention of Terrorist Travel Act. Your general powers, duties and functions are set out in the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Act. Under the authority of the Emergency Management Act, you are responsible for exercising leadership in Canada by coordinating, among federal departments and agencies and in cooperation with provinces and territories, responses to events affecting the national interest (e.g., terrorism, human-induced and natural disasters, and cyber incidents). When such events occur, you may expect to be involved in exercising immediate leadership on behalf of the Government of Canada .

1.2 Operational Context and Threat Environment

Canada is facing an increasingly complicated threat environment that is intimately connected to the world beyond the country’s borders. The Portfolio faces significant pressures to adapt to constant changes to the threat environment, including new threat actors, cyber threats, global trends in commerce and migration, foreign interference and espionage, and extreme weather events and catastrophic risks. The adoption of digital and online technology has created disruptions and attacks on the digital and critical infrastructure upon which Canadians rely, which can undermine Canada’s national security, democratic institutions, community safety and economic prosperity. These issues present policy, legal and operational challenges and create pressures for law enforcement and intelligence services.

Natural disasters have become an increasing threat to the safety, well-being, and prosperity of Canadians. The increasing frequency and impact of natural hazards also places a financial and operational strain on the Portfolio and the broader emergency management community.

Concerning crime and safety, issues such as organized crime, money laundering, cybercrime, and online child sexual exploitation continue to be prominent. Drug-impaired driving incidents are on the rise with 4,423 incidents of drug-impaired driving recorded in 2018.

All policy priorities within the Portfolio require leadership and coordination with Portfolio partners, as well as with other federal departments and provincial, territorial and municipal governments which can also have responsibilities in these areas.

1.2.1 Terrorism

Canada’s current National Terrorism threat level is medium, meaning that a violent act of terrorism could occur, and has been at this level since October 2014.The principal terrorist threat to Canada and Canadian interests continues to be that posed by individuals or groups who are inspired by violent ideologies and terrorist groups, such as Daesh or al-Qaida (AQ).

At the same time, Canada also continues to face threats from individuals inspired to commit violence based on other forms of extremism, including from right-wing extremists, individuals who support terrorist groups such as Hizballah, and extremists who support violent means to establish an independent state within India. The risk of violence emanating from individuals inspired by these forms of extremism currently poses a lower threat to Canada than that of Daesh or AQ inspired individuals or groups.

1.2.2 Canadian Extremist Travellers

The threat posed by extremist travellers presents significant challenges to both Canada and its allies. According to the 2018 Public Report on the Terrorism Threat to Canada, approximately 190 extremist travellers with a nexus to Canada are currently abroad. Approximately 60 individuals with a nexus to Canada who are suspected to have engaged in terrorist activities abroad have returned to Canada. Those numbers have remained stable over the past three years, as it has become more difficult for extremist travellers to successfully leave or return to Canada.

1.2.3 Cyber Security

Cyber security is the protection of digital information and the infrastructure on which it resides. One of Canada’s greatest cyber challenges is the increasing number of incidents causing harm to the economy and society, ranging from breaches, crimes, disruption of essential services, and destruction of corporate and country assets. From social media, smartphone applications, online shopping, networked devices, the cloud, and beyond, Canadians rely on digital technologies for more than personal enjoyment –they are integral to the systems that underpin the Canadian economy and way of life. These technological advances are also critical to seizing on efficiencies that will support economic competition into the future.

On a per capita basis, Canadians spend the most time online of any country in the world (43.5 hours monthly). From commercial supply chains to critical infrastructure, risks in the cyber world have multiplied, accelerated, and grown increasingly malicious. Criminals and other malicious cyber threat actors, many of them operating outside our border, take advantage of security gaps, low cyber security awareness, and technological developments in an effort to compromise cyber systems. They steal personal and financial information, intellectual property, trade secrets, and disrupt the infrastructure that Canadians rely on for essential services.

1.2.4 Hostile Activity by State Actors (HASA)

HASA encompasses any effort by a foreign state, or its proxies, to undermine Canadian values and national interests, including our sovereignty, security, economic prosperity, or the integrity of and trust in Canada’s political system. HASA encompasses actions that are short of armed conflict yet deceptive, threatening, corrupt, covert or illegal in nature. HASA manifests itself in various forms and can have a broad range of impacts on Canada’s national security and strategic interests. Espionage, foreign interference operations and cyber-attacks play a significant role in helping foreign states as they seek to gain a military, strategic, economic or political advantage over Canada. Foreign actors may target many areas of society, including our economy, democracy, citizens, critical infrastructure, and international affairs and defence.

Canada’s advanced industrial and technological capabilities, combined with expertise in certain sectors, make it an attractive target for state actors who may seek to acquire Canadian technology and expertise by utilizing a range of sophisticated means, at the expense of Canada’s national interests. Taking advantage of the increasingly interconnected nature of today’s digital world, foreign state actors have capitalized on computer network exploitation, using inexpensive cyber tools to steal sensitive information and personal data on a massive scale. HASA can systematically target Canada’s public and private sector research and development investments

1.2.5 Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction

Proliferation is evolving in ways never seen before: people, goods, and money flow quickly and easily around the globe thanks to modern transportation, trade, financial networks, and the Internet. As well, many goods and technologies have the potential to be used or modified to produce weapons and military items. These “dual-use items” and their illicit acquisition and potential misuse by states and non-state actors are an important concern. Countries seeking to develop or expand their weapons of mass destruction capabilities generally rely on procurement of technology and scientific knowledge from highly developed countries, including Canada, who is a major exporter of nuclear technology and knowledge.

[Redacted]  

1.2.6 Money Laundering and Organized Crime

Criminal syndicates operating in Canada are linked to money laundering, cybercrime, fraud, theft, the trafficking of drugs, humans and weapons, child sexual exploitation and violence, among other security issues. Canada’s illegal economy is estimated to be valued at approximately $78 billion and rising. Although organized crime has been a major priority of law enforcement agencies for years, Canada has little usable data, making law enforcement’s task of combatting organized crime groups more difficult. Money laundering compromises the integrity of legitimate financial systems and institutions, and gives organized crime the funds it needs to conduct further criminal activities. Technological advances in e-commerce, the global diversification of financial markets and new financial products provide further opportunities to launder illegal profit and obscure the money trail leading back to the underlying crime. Profit-motivated crimes span a variety of illegal activities from drug trafficking and smuggling to fraud, extortion and corruption. The scope of criminal proceeds is estimated at $590 billion to $1.5 trillion (U.S.) worldwide each year.

1.2.7 Border Integrity

In 2018, there was a record high number of individuals claiming asylum (55,000), as well as a significant increase in the number of air travellers (34.5 million). Increasing costs for core infrastructure and a growing need to modernize ports of entry to manage these increasing volumes have also put additional pressure and strain on existing resources and aging infrastructure.

Transnational organized crime groups are active along the border and they continually adapt their smuggling methods and routes to avoid detection by Canadian and US law enforcement. [Redacted]

1.2.8 Weather-related Threats

Disaster losses are likely to increase into the foreseeable future as a result of drivers of change, including: climate change; critical infrastructure interdependence; and shifting demographics in Canada. Disasters pose significant risks to communities, individual health and well-being, the economy, and the natural environment. Moreover, many Indigenous communities are among the most vulnerable to climate change due to their remote and coastal locations, lack of access to Emergency Management services, and reliance on natural ecosystems. In the event of a large-scale natural disaster that is beyond the capacity of a jurisdiction to cope with on their own, as noted, the Government of Canada provides financial assistance to provinces/territories through the Disaster Financial Agreement Arrangement (DFAA) administered by the Department. It is projected that the DFAA average annual payout from 2016-2021 will be $900 million which significantly exceed the program’s $100 million annual base. The prospect of a future possibly impacted by harsher climate events will require a change in behaviour, concrete actions and incentives to ensure that building and recovery efforts are done in areas that are safe and secure, including outside of floodplains.

1.3 The Deputy Minister of Public Safety and the Department

The Deputy Minister of Public Safety is your principal policy advisor for the full range of policy issues managed within the Portfolio. While the Deputy Minister does not have direct authority over Portfolio agencies, he/she plays a key role in promoting policy coordination, and building coherence among Portfolio partner activities.

In this way, the Deputy Minister and the Department complement the operational focus of Portfolio organizations with a strategic policy perspective on public safety issues. Given this responsibility, most Portfolio Cabinet business originates from the Department.

The Deputy Minister is your primary contact on briefings on Memoranda to Cabinet (MCs), although it is common practice that you be accompanied to a Cabinet Committee by the appropriate Agency Head when an MC does not originate within the Department or when other operational expertise is required. The heads of the RCMP, CBSA, CSIS, CSC, and PBC are Deputy Minister-level officials and you will have a direct relationship with each of them. However, your relationship with the Chairperson of the PBC is different due to the Chairperson’s independence as head of an administrative tribunal.

In collaboration with your Office, the Department provides a strategic planning and coordinating function for the Portfolio throughout the legislative process, and offers advice on parliamentary procedure from the moment a Bill is ready for introduction, through to Royal Assent. Likewise, the Department is also responsible for providing you with strategic policy advice in its role in supporting your relations with key provincial, territorial and international partners.

2. RELATIONSHIPS AND STAKEHOLDERS

2.1 Statutory Activities

You have the statutory authority to provide “direction” to the heads of the Portfolio agencies (who are, in turn, responsible for the “control and management” of their agency). This  includes coordinating their activities and establishing their strategic priorities in relation to public safety and emergency management. As a result of these authorities, subject to certain principles, you can issue directions that clarify or set reporting requirements in order to support ministerial accountability to Parliament. You are also entitled to request information regarding an agency’s administration of a specific program and to establish accountability mechanisms. Your responsibilities with respect to the agencies involve over 100 pieces of legislation, many of which involve a shared responsibility and close collaboration with other federal Ministers and departments. Each agency has its own governing legislation which sets out its statutory authority and to various degrees, the role of the Minister.

As you exercise your responsibilities, it will be important to keep some key principles in mind, such as that of police independence. For instance, with respect to law enforcement activities of RCMP and CBSA officers, while you can be informed generally of a particular criminal investigation and have the right to be informed of any operational matter if it raises an important question of public policy, you may not inquire about the specifics of a particular investigation or attempt to influence in any way the investigation or direct the conduct of specific police operations. Also, while directions you provide may relate to general policies, including operational policies, they cannot infringe on a specific law enforcement function (e.g., a criminal investigation, an arrest, the laying of charges or a prosecution – often referred to as “core policing decisions”). Any direction that does touch on core policing decisions must be general in nature and not be specific to a particular investigation.

As Minister, you can provide directions to the RCMP and CBSA in writing or verbally. A formal Ministerial Directives mechanism exists for providing written directions to the RCMP. This process is typically reserved for exceptional, longstanding issues. No formal mechanism has been developed for CBSA. However, the Minister has provided written and verbal directions to the CBSA President in the past. Directions may be provided to CSC on general policies, including operational policies, but may not interfere in the management of a specific case. For example, you may direct that CSC take steps to ensure that all inmates are properly assessed and incarcerated accordingly (minimum vs. maximum security). General directions will then be applied to individual cases by responsible officials. You may not provide specific direction for a CSC officer’s decision, where the agency statute requires that the officer make the decision.

As CSIS is not a law enforcement agency and does not investigate crimes or make arrests, your relationship with the Director of CSIS is not affected by the principle of police independence. Although the CSIS Act grants the Director of CSIS general responsibility for the management of the agency, it also contemplates Ministerial involvement in a number of areas, for example, applications for warrants enabling CSIS to investigate security threats, or conduct foreign intelligence collection activities, and cooperative arrangements with domestic and foreign agencies. In addition, the CSIS Act establishes an important role for the Deputy Minister of Public Safety in providing you advice on sensitive CSIS-related matters. [Redacted] The Department also supports you in developing and issuing Ministerial Direction to CSIS, such as on CSIS’ intelligence priorities. A new direction was issued on September 10 on Accountability, outlining the Minister’s expectations with respect to how and when the Minister and the Deputy Minister are informed of CSIS activities, and CSIS’ relationship to the Federal Court.

Recently, the Avoiding Complicity in Mistreatment by Foreign Entities Act, enacted as part of the National Security Act, 2017, established a new mechanism through which direction can be provided to departments and agencies, including the RCMP, CSIS and CBSA, regarding the use of information that is likely to have been obtained through the mistreatment of an individual by a foreign entity as well as the disclosure of, or request for, information that would result in a substantial risk of mistreatment.

Most directions should be high-level in nature and require the Agency Head to determine the ways and means of accomplishing your objectives. While you bear responsibility for the Department and the Agencies, it is the Agency Heads who handle their management of routine business and operations. Broad direction rather than transactional engagement is the norm.

2.2 Heads of Administrative Tribunals and Review Bodies

The Parole Board of Canada is an independent administrative tribunal that has exclusive authority and absolute discretion to make decisions regarding different types of conditional release (e.g., parole) and to make decisions on pardons, record suspensions and expungements. You can expect that the Chairperson of the Parole Board of Canada will keep you apprised of significant policy issues which may raise public concerns; however, you do not have the authority to direct the Chairperson or other members of the Board in the exercise of their decision-making powers. This ensures the Board’s independence and integrity. For the same reason, it would be inappropriate for you to comment publicly or inquire to the Board about its reasons for making particular decisions.

You are able to turn to the review bodies to help support your accountability for the RCMP and CSC. You may request that the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP undertake a review of a specified activity and provide a report to you. The Correctional Investigator may also inquire into matters of concern to you.

2.3 Cabinet Counterparts

Many aspects of the Portfolio’s work require close collaboration with other federal Ministers. Your key partners outside the Public Safety Portfolio include Ministers responsible for Justice (DOJ); Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC); Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED); Foreign Affairs; Infrastructure Canada (INFC); Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC); Natural Resources Canada (NRCAN); Crown and Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs (CIRNA); and Indigenous Services (IS). The Department will support you in maintaining these relations through ongoing collaboration.

2.4 Provincial and Territorial Counterparts

Criminal justice, public safety and emergency management are areas of shared federal, provincial and territorial responsibility, which means that intergovernmental collaboration and consultation are essential. In some jurisdictions, PT Ministers are accountable for broad areas of responsibility similar to yours, while in others, these responsibilities are assigned differently.

You will work with your PT counterparts through the FPT Table of Ministers Responsible for Justice and Public Safety and the FPT Table of Ministers Responsible for Emergency Management. These fora provide you with the opportunity to consult your PT colleagues and exchange views and concerns on issues of common interest.

2.5 External Stakeholders

Advancing Canada’s public safety and emergency management interests requires effective engagement with domestic and international stakeholders. In a number of instances, these organizations are also partners in policy development and program implementation. Allied nations, including Canada’s 5 Eyes Partners (i.e., Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the U.S.), are among the Department’s key international stakeholder groups.
Among the many with which you will engage, key domestic stakeholder groups include:

The Department and Portfolio engage with these groups on an ongoing basis and will also support your relations with these organizations as you require. The Portfolio also engages Canadians through a variety of communications and outreach activities. For example, the
Cross-Cultural Roundtable on Security provides a forum for the Government to seek community-level input on national security issues. The views of members help inform the Department’s policy work. There are 15 members of the Roundtable, who are leaders within their communities and bring their own personal experiences to the table. Members of the Roundtable are appointed by you and the Minister of Justice.

3. POLICY AGENDA

The Portfolio policy agenda is informed by the threat environment, research and evidence-based data, and is designed to increase Canada’s capacity to proactively mitigate and respond to a wide scope of public safety and security priorities and interests. Many of these issues implicate multiple agencies within the Portfolio as well as the full range of Government departments. The following is a brief overview of key issues.

3.1 National Security

Threats continue to multiply and increase in complexity, which puts pressure on existing resources and increases the need for prioritization to ensure an effective approach going forward. You will often be looked to by your colleagues to play a leadership role in presenting the security and intelligence community’s views of sensitive national security issues that Cabinet must consider within the context of other, sometimes competing perspectives. The review of foreign direct investments under the Investment Canada Act, terrorist listings under the Criminal Code, and the response to critical incidents are examples where national security interests may be considered in a context that may include economic, diplomatic and Charter of Rights and Freedoms perspectives, to name a few.

3.1.1 Cyber Security

Ensuring that Canada’s economic interests and overall safety are protected by addressing threats to cyber security through enhanced technical capabilities and strong leadership is a key policy concern. Cyber security is increasingly driving innovation and economic activity in Canada, benefiting the economy as a whole. It already contributes $1.7 billion to Canada’s GDP and consists of over 11,000 well-paying jobs.

A Cyber Review was launched in 2016 to gather information and lessons learned to renew Canada’s approach to cyber security. Canada’s new National Cyber Security Strategy was released in 2018. The Strategy established three goals in response to evolving threats: secure and resilient Canadian systems; an innovative and adaptive cyber ecosystem; and effective leadership, governance, and collaboration. The private sector will continue to be an important partner in achieving these goals. Public Safety plays the lead policy role in implementing the Strategy, while the Communications Security Establishment, under the authority of the Minister of National Defence leads on operational matters through the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. Through the National Cybercrime Coordination unit, the RCMP works with partners and international allies to reduce cyber-related criminal activity.

3.1.2 Critical Infrastructure

In the last decade the risk landscape has undergone a socioeconomic and technological evolution, which has made safeguarding Canada’s critical infrastructure an increasingly complex challenge. As the rate and severity of natural disasters increases, there is a corresponding increase in the possibility of disruptions to critical infrastructure. This could result in the prolonged loss of essential services. The 2010 National Strategy for Critical Infrastructure recognizes three strategic objectives: building partnerships, implementing an all-hazards risk management approach, and sharing and protecting information. The increasingly interconnected (e.g., fifth generation (5G) wireless) and advanced systems (e.g., artificial intelligence) create challenges in securing Canadian infrastructure. Physical and digital resilience is increasingly a competitive advantage, driving investment, facilitating innovation, and positioning Canada as a credible place to do business.

Infrastructure resilience is based on integrated systems that deliver critical functions and services to Canadians. The convergence of the physical and digital realms also means that infrastructure security and cyber security efforts need to be coordinated, with risks managed in an integrated manner. Ongoing and rapid technological advancements, including reliance on critical cyber systems and the emergence of 5G technologies, combined with greater integration of the physical and digital domains within and across sectors, have a multiplying effect on the potential impact of critical infrastructure failures. Five Eyes countries have undertaken substantial reviews of the security risks to 5G networks. The nature of 5G would increase the potential impact of an attack against telecommunications networks. As such, Canada must determine its way forward with respect to those technologies.

3.1.3 Economic Based Threats to National Security

While foreign investments and trade help businesses to succeed and grow, Canada must have the tools and resources it needs to protect against economic-based security threats. The Government of Canada has a suite of tools to protect against threats. These include: the Controlled Goods Program; the Export and Import Permits Act; and the Investment Canada Act (ICA). The Department leads the national security review investigative process of the ICA which permits the review of proposed foreign investments that could be injurious to Canada’s national security. [Redacted]

In response to these challenges, an interdepartmental Task Force led by Public Safety is working to develop long-term policy solutions to ensure Canada’s national security framework promotes economic prosperity while safeguarding security interests. In collaboration with other government departments and agencies such as the Department of National Defence, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, among many others, the Task Force continues to explore ways in which the government can strengthen its toolkit to ensure the resiliency and integrity of some of our most critical economic spheres, while also mitigating potentially injurious economic-based activities and transactions. Relatedly, in February , 2019 Public Safety established a  Sensitive Technologies Working Group, whose work in identifying sectors of concern, will form the basis of many Task Force recommendations.

3.1.4 Access to Digital Evidence

In the course of law enforcement or national security investigations, investigators need to be able to identify individuals based on communication identifiers (e.g. phone number or internet protocol address). The absence of clear legal mechanisms for law enforcement to compel the production of such basic subscriber information following the 2014 Supreme Court of Canada decision in R. v. Spencer, [Redacted]

3.1.5 Countering Radicalization to Violence and terrorism

Terrorism and radicalization to violence continue to be enduring threats for Canada.

The Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence (Canada Centre) leads the Government of Canada's efforts to counter radicalization to violence through providing policy guidance, promoting coordination and collaboration with a range of stakeholders to build and share knowledge, allocating funding and planning research and supporting interventions through the Canada Centre's Community Resilience Fund. In December 2018, the Government of Canada released the National Strategy on Countering Radicalization to Violence, which outlines three priorities: building, sharing and using knowledge; addressing radicalization to violence in the online space; and supporting interventions. The Canada Centre is among a small core group of government stakeholders invited to advise the recently re-launched Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT), led by Facebook, Microsoft, Google, and Twitter, to deepen industry collaboration on preventing terrorists and violent extremists from exploiting digital platforms.

3.2 Community Safety and Countering Crime

Although the overall crime rate in Canada is lower than it was a decade ago, the crime rate has been increasing for the past four consecutive years (2015-2018). Additionally, Indigenous peoples continue to represent a notable proportion of homicide victims, with 2018 homicide rates five times the rate for non-Indigenous victims.

3.2.1 Crime Prevention

The National Crime Prevention Strategy involves responding to national crime issues/priorities and advancing evidence-based crime prevention in Canada. Key recent developments on crime prevention include the establishment of a National Human Trafficking Hotline, which became operational in May 2019, and will be a centrepiece for the implementation of a new whole-of-government strategy to combat human trafficking, as well as an expansion of the National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet.

3.2.2 Guns and Gangs

Gun and gang activity is a complex issue. Gang-related homicides continue to involve firearms at a rate significantly higher (76%) than non-gang related homicides (20%). In recent years, jurisdictions across Canada have reported an increase in the number of incidents of several offences related to organized crime such as first degree murder, manslaughter, extortion and human trafficking. Canadians have expressed concern about the level of gun and gang violence in their communities.

Data from Statistics Canada show that firearm-related violent crime was unchanged in 2018 from the previous year, following a period of increases since 2013. Although gang-and firearm related homicides decreased in 2018, gang-related homicides continued to account for 25% of all homicides. The rate of firearm-related violent crime in Canada is higher in western Canada, nearly twice as high in the north as it is in the south, and more than twice as high in rural areas. Public Safety has been leading the Initiative to Take Action against Guns and Gang Violence, complementing recent legislation to strengthen gun laws and keep communities safe.

3.2.3 Drug Policy

The illegal drug landscape in Canada is complex and ever-changing. In recent years, much attention has been on the opioid crisis, with more than 10,300 opioid-related deaths between 2016-2018. During this time, some regions saw increased use of methamphetamine, with it overtaking that of fentanyl in certain areas. In December 2016, the Government launched the Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy which restores harm reduction as a pillar, alongside prevention, treatment, and enforcement, to guide the federal response to the opioid crisis. The enforcement pillar of the Strategy encompasses regulatory and enforcement activities aimed at reducing the illegal drug supply and the ways in which law enforcement and public health officials may collaborate to reduce drug-related harms.

Additionally, synthetic opioids, like fentanyl, continue to be trafficked via international and domestic mail. The Department is working to enhance ties between postal inspectors and law enforcement, with a view to developing a collaborative approach to stem the flow of illegal opioids through the mail system. Preventing, treating and combatting the abuse of illicit and prescription drugs is an ongoing policy priority. Moving forward, there are opportunities to increase enforcement tools, including strengthening the legislative response to drug-impaired driving and exploring new ways to address the illicit diversion, production and trafficking of fentanyl in Canada.

3.2.4 Vulnerable Populations

Socially or economically disadvantaged groups are more likely to be victims of violent crime, such as human trafficking. This includes: Indigenous women and girls; migrants and new immigrants; LGBTQ2 persons; persons living with disabilities; children; and at-risk youth. Women are especially vulnerable to trafficking for sexual exploitation: 95% of human trafficking victims between 2009 and 2016 were women.

The effects of colonialism in Indigenous peoples have resulted in inter-generational cycles of abuse (physical and sexual), poverty and homelessness, as well as substance abuse. Within the Canadian Indigenous population, there is a clear intersection of multiple vulnerabilities, leaving this group at great risk. A disproportionate amount of violent crime occurs in Northern Canada (i.e., Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut), with young women and girls most at-risk for violence. Indigenous women and girls are particularly vulnerable to being trafficked and to other forms of violent crime such as homicide. While young women and girls in the North  accounted for less than 7% of Canada’s female population aged 24 and younger, they represented 17% of young female victims of police-reported violent crime. As a result, the rate of violent crime against young women and girls living in the North was nearly three times higher than it was in the South.

Indigenous peoples continue to be disproportionately represented within the federal correctional system. Gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous offenders remain across the spectrum of federal correctional outcomes. Legislative changes, anticipated population growth and strategic initiatives to expand integration of Indigenous perspectives in correctional processes will exert significant pressures on CSC’s Indigenous Initiatives portfolio. Providing effective and culturally appropriate correctional and reintegration support for Indigenous offenders has and will continue to be a CSC corporate priority.

3.2.5 Law enforcement

Costs of contract policing are expected to increase significantly due to the RCMP’s impending unionization. Under Police Service Agreements, PTs determine the number of officers required. The existing contract policing model is expensive and not sustainable for the federal government. In addition, demands from PTs and municipalities have outstripped RCMP capacity to recruit and train and has led to the shrinkage of Federal Policing capacity in order to backfill contract policing demands.

As the cost of policing continues to rise, strong leadership and close collaboration with PT partners continue to be important factors in the pursuit of effective and efficient resource allocation for police services, as well as the development of new models of community safety and improving the efficiency of the police-justice interface.

3.2.6 Corrections

The population of federally-sentenced offenders contains an increased number of women offenders, a disproportionate representation of Indigenous offenders, a growing number of offenders with mental health issues and those who identify as members of an ethnic minority, as well as an aging inmate population (50 years +). CSC has identified addressing the needs of vulnerable populations as an immediate priority.

PS is responsible for providing you with advice and support on legislation and policies governing corrections and criminal justice issues, like those addressing the practice of administrative segregation, which was eliminated by the Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and another Act and replaced with Structured Intervention Units (SIU) and independent external decision makers to ensure oversight and transparency.

The Department is also responsible for engaging with community-based organizations to support the safe rehabilitation and successful reintegration of federal offenders, while helping to ensure victims’ rights are protected and respected. This includes management of the Public Safety National Office for Victims, which is responsible for outreach, referral services, and educational activities to support victims of crime.

3.2.7 Conditional Release and Criminal Records System

The legislation governing conditional release, the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, is prescriptive, specifying when and how the PBC makes conditional release decisions (e.g., when a review is required by law; and when to conduct hearings). The PBC must deal with high workload volumes involving issues critical to public safety under tight timeframes, and amid intense public scrutiny. The PBC continues to work closely with criminal justice partners to support quality conditional release decisions and has a renewed focus on community outreach and engagement. The PBC also works closely with its Indigenous partners and communities, as well as other federal government departments and community partners, to enhance and strengthen its responsiveness to the needs of Indigenous peoples. The legislation governing the PBC’s record suspension/pardon program, the Criminal Records Act, specifies precisely how it conducts its business. The Board has identified as an additional priority the need to reform the pardons and record suspension program. The complexity of administering five different legislative schemes and operating a very dated system that is not user or client friendly puts the integrity of the program at risk.

3.3 Emergency Management

You are responsible for leading the Government’s emergency management from an all-hazard perspective which means the government adopts a holistic approach that recognizes the need to address natural hazards, technological incidents and man-made threats in an integrated manner. The F/P/T Emergency Management Strategy for Canada: Toward a Resilient 2030, released in 2019, seeks to align the efforts of all Canadians as well as to strengthen overall resilience through five priority areas of activity: strengthen resilience, improve understanding of disaster risks, focus on whole-of-society disaster prevention and mitigation activities, enhance disaster response capacity and, strengthen recovery efforts.

3.3.1 Disaster Recovery

A key responsibility includes providing financial assistance to provincial/territorial governments for response and recovery efforts from natural disasters. From a federal perspective, the rising cost of disasters is particularly concerning as significant federal funding is provided through the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA). Disaster assistance to PTs and Indigenous communities is also provided by other Federal programs under the responsibility of other ministers. Unsustainable development and a changing climate are directly contributing to an increase in both the severity and frequency of natural disasters, leading to significant increases in post disaster, cost-shared, federal assistance to provincial and territorial government through the DFAA. The percentage of eligible costs reimbursed under the DFAA is determined by the cost-sharing formula outlined in the arrangements and is up to 90% of eligible expenditures. A review of the program is underway to assess how the DFAA is evolving, and how it could be updated to ensure the program continues to be a relevant, effective and sustainable instrument in a context of rising frequency, severity and costs of natural disasters.

3.3.2 Disaster Mitigation

Given the rising cost, severity and frequency of disasters in Canada, a reactive approach to emergency management is no longer sufficient. In support of this shift, in 2017, FPT governments approved revisions to the Emergency Management Framework for Canada that establish a common approach for a range of collaborative emergency management initiatives in support of safe and resilient communities. The Emergency Management Strategy for Canada: Toward a Resilient 2030 identified FPT priorities including a specific emphasis on increasing focus on whole-of-society disaster prevention and mitigation activities.

The Department has responded to changing trends by shifting toward an approach that involves investing in disaster prevention and mitigation. The National Disaster Mitigation Program (2015-2020) was established to support measures aimed at identifying, preventing and mitigating the impact of floods in Canada.

3.3.3 Government Operations Centre

On behalf of the Government of Canada, the Government Operations Centre (GOC) coordinates integrated federal responses to all-hazards events of national interest. It provides 24/7 monitoring and reporting, national-level situational awareness, warning products and integrated risk assessments, as well as national-level planning and whole-of-government response management. The GOC further reinforces the principles of emergency management through the coordination of the National Exercise Program and Continuous Improvement of Federal Event Response. An internal audit in 2016 recognized the inadequacy of the current GOC facilities. The Department is working to modernize the GOC, including a project with Public Services and Procurement Canada and Shared Services Canada to re-locate the GOC in 2022.

3.4 Borders

Secure and efficient borders are vital to Canada’s economy, security, and credibility with foreign partners. Core responsibilities in border management and enforcement are becoming increasingly complex in the face of growing volume, increasing expectations for faster and better border services, rapidly changing technologies, and emerging security vulnerabilities. Automated and simplified border processes, as well as reducing administrative burdens, continue to be areas of sustained interest for stakeholders.

Continued implementation of effective border management strategies will be a key part of your relationship with your main U.S. counterpart, the Secretary of Homeland Security. You will be asked to respond to increased U.S. pressure to share information with possible operational or privacy impacts, and to advance Canada’s focus on immigration matters (e.g. Safe Third Country Agreement and irregular migration).

3.4.1 Irregular Migration & Asylum

More than 62 million people are currently displaced by wars, persecution and natural disasters. Canada is not immune to this global trend. Since 2017, Canada has seen record high numbers of individuals seeking asylum (50,395 in 2017 and 55,040 in 2018), when the current asylum system is only funded to support 26,000 claims annually. During this period, Canada has also seen an increase in irregular migration across the southern border in-between ports of entry in an attempt to circumvent the Safe Third Country Agreement in place between Canada and the US, which has  not been updated since 2004. Regardless of how individuals arrive in Canada, all persons are legally entitled to make a claim for asylum and have their eligibility to have a hearing assessed. The Border Enforcement Strategy aims to detect and discourage the misuse of Canada’s immigration system, better manage arrivals at the border, and make strategic investments to key federal departments responsible for managing the immigration system.

3.4.2 Preclearance

Preclearance is the process whereby customs, immigration and other border laws of an inspecting country are conducted in the host country. Preclearance has produced significant benefits for Canada in the air environment including allowing roughly 12 million passengers each year to avoid lengthy and unpredictable customs lines at U.S. airports and increasing the competitiveness of Canadian airports as hubs for in-transit travel. In August 2019, Canada and the US brought into force the Agreement on Land, Rail, Marine, and Air Transport Preclearance between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America. The new agreement allows for the continuation of existing air preclearance operations while opening the door for the reciprocal expansion of operations in the air mode and the establishment of similar operations in other land, rail and marine modes for both passengers and cargo.

3.4.3 Securing the Arctic

Anticipation of melting sea ice and the opening of Arctic marine trade routes is fueling international interest and investment in the Arctic. Increased access and growing competition brings safety and security challenges to which Canada must be ready to respond. The northern frontier is defined by complex multilateral geopolitics including China’s self-declaration as a “near-Arctic state”. There are now more ships, including research vessels and cargo ships, navigating through northern waters. Growing economic activity and developing transportation networks will also create markets and opportunities for criminal activities, including the smuggling of illegal goods and the movement of unauthorized persons. As the north becomes more accessible and the volumes of both travellers and commercial traffic continues to increase, Canada’s response will be crucial.

Footnotes

  1. 1

    The Department’s legal name is the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. The Department is commonly referred to as Public Safety Canada (PS). The legal name must be used in statutory instruments, such as legislation or Orders in Council, as well as other types of documents that have legal effect, including contracts or other formal agreements.

  2. 2

    Additional information can be found in the Minister’s Handbook.

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