Navigation Links

Skip to main content
Skip to primary navigation

Common menu bar

Breadcrumb

Home >
Annual Reports >
Annual Report 2008-2009 >
Security Screening Activities

Annual Report 2008-2009 - Accountability in a New Era of Security Intelligence

Table of Contents

Appendix B: CSIS at a Glance

B. Security Screening Activities

Security screening is one of the most publicly visible functions provided by CSIS. This activity consists of government screening (which includes site-access screening) and immigration screening.

Government screening

This type of screening provides security assessments—an appraisal of the loyalty to Canada and (so far as it relates thereto) the reliability of an individual—for all government departments and institutions, except the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

CSIS does not decide who receives a security clearance. Rather, it advises the requesting department or agency of information that could have an impact on their decision to grant a clearance. On rare occasions, CSIS will recommend to a requesting agency that the threshold in the Government Security Policy has been met to deny a clearance. However, it is the responsibility of the requesting agency to grant, revoke or deny a clearance.

Table 4 reports the number of requests for government screening that CSIS received over a three-year period. Table 5 reports the median turnaround time for CSIS to complete these assessments.

Table 4: Requests for CSIS government security screening^*
	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09
Requests from Department of National Defence (DND)	13,100	8,800	15,300
Requests from other clients	38,100	41,500	46,400
Total	51,200	50,300	61,700
Assessments issued to DND	13,100	8,300	14,400
Assessments issued to other clients^†	41,800	40,500	46,300
Total	54,900	48,800	60,700

* Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.
^† This number includes assessments performed for provincial governments and for access to nuclear facilities.

Table 5: Median turnaround time (in calendar days)
for CSIS to complete security assessments
		2006–07^†	2007–08		2008–09
			New	Updates	New	Updates
DND	Level I (Confidential)	40	23	9	74	57
	Level II (Secret)	40	28	23	61	62
	Level III (Top Secret)	82	164	29	126	57
Non-DND	Level I (Confidential)	32	18	13	18	6
	Level II (Secret)	21	13	12	15	16
	Level III (Top Secret)	47	186	4	145	8

^† For 2006–07, median turnaround times for new and update security assessments were not available. The time reflected in this column is therefore for both types of assessments.

Site-access screening

This type of screening allows an individual access to certain secure areas—such as airports, port and marine facilities, the Parliamentary Precinct and nuclear power facilities—and provides accreditation for special events and assessments to provincial departments. These programs are meant to enhance security and reduce the potential threat from terrorist groups and foreign governments, which may seek to gain unauthorized access to classified information or other assets, materials and sensitive sites. Table 6 reports the number of requests that CSIS received for site-access screening over the past year, relative to the previous two years.

Table 6: Requests to CSIS for site-access screening^*
	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09
Parliamentary Precinct	1,100	1,100	1,000
Airport restricted-access area (Transport Canada)	39,300	36,800	31,400
Nuclear facilities	17,900	9,200	11,100
Free and Secure Trade (FAST)	23,100	10,700	6,400
Special events accreditation	0	1,300	16,300
Marine Transportation Security Clearance Program^†	N/A	6,300	5,200
Other government departments	2,500	2,100	2,600
Total	83,900	67,500	74,000

* Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.
^† The Marine Transportation Security Clearance Program became operational in December 2007 to provide security assessments in relation to the security of Canada’s ports.

Immigration screening

This type of screening helps to ensure that individuals who pose a threat to security and/or are inadmissible under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act do not gain entry or obtain status in Canada. If an individual meets one or more of these criteria, CSIS will issue a brief. Table 7 reports the number of citizenship and immigration screening requests received by CSIS, as well as the number of briefs issues in relation to these requests.

Table 7: Requests to CSIS for citizen and
immigration screening and briefs issued
	Requests^*			Briefs
	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09
Permanent resident^†	62,800	66,000	67,300	201	195	213
Front-end screening^††	17,900	21,800	26,800	143	117	108
Refugee determination^†††	11,600	6,600	6,600	153	142	102
Subtotal	92,300	94,400	100,700	497	454	423
Citizenship applications	227,300	190,000	169,500	155	109	169
Total	319,600	284,400	270,200	652	563	592

* Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.
^† This includes permanent residents inside and outside Canada (excluding the Refugee Determination Program), permanent residents from within the United States and applicants from overseas.
^†† Individuals claiming refugee status in Canada or at ports of entry.
^††† Refugees, as defined by the IRPA, who apply from within Canada for permanent resident status.

Table 8 reports the time it took for CSIS to complete notices of assessment, which are issued in those government and immigration screening cases when CSIS finds no adverse information on an applicant.

**Table 8: Turnaround time (in days) for CSIS to complete notices of assessment**
	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09
Citizenship	1	1	1
Immigration (Canada)^†	78	59	95
Immigration (USA)^†^†	29	45	65
Overseas immigration	14	20	26
Refugee determination	98	64	89
Front-end screening	19	28	29

^† This includes certain classes of individuals who apply for permanent resident status from within Canada.
^†† This includes persons who have been legally admitted to Canada for at least one year, and who may submit their application to Citizenship and Immigration offices in the United States.

Table of Contents

Primary navigation (left column)

Footer

Date Modified:: 2010-10-14

Top of Page

Important Notices