Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My name is Glen Linder. I’m the director general of international and intergovernmental relations at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or IRCC. My branch is the policy lead for the implementation of the Security of Canada Information Sharing Act, or SCISA, within IRCC.
I’m accompanied today by Michael Olsen, chief privacy officer of IRCC.
Today, I’ll be discussing how IRCC’s mandate relates to national security, how SCISA was implemented within the department and how IRCC is using these new authorities.
Following my opening remarks, my colleague and I will be happy to answer any questions committee members may have on this topic.
IRCC is responsible for a diverse mandate, which includes facilitating the arrival of people and their integration into Canada while protecting the health, safety, and security of Canadians; managing the granting of Canadian citizenship; and issuing Canadian passports. Several of IRCC 's powers, duties, and functions relate directly to addressing activities that undermine the security of Canada. These include assessing the criminal and security admissibility of immigration, citizenship, and passport applicants.
One of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act's objectives with respect to immigration is “to promote international justice and security by fostering respect for human rights and by denying access to Canadian territory to persons who are criminals or security risks”.
In an effort to maintain the integrity of the immigration, citizenship, and passport programs, IRCC works closely with its security partners to identify applicants who are inadmissible to Canada on security grounds, to remove or revoke the status of those who engage in activities deemed to undermine Canada's national security, and to deny passport services to persons posing a threat to our national security. For example, IRCC ensures that individuals who are deemed inadmissible by engaging in terrorism, or instigating the subversion by force of any government, are not admitted to Canada. IRCC is also responsible for conducting revocations of citizenship if a person has obtained citizenship by false representation or fraud with respect to facts that may render persons inadmissible to Canada on grounds of security.
IRCC takes very seriously the operationalization of the new authorities granted by SCISA. The Department of Public Safety has developed a desk book and related resources that support government institutions in the implementation of SCISA to ensure its effective and responsible use. To complement this, IRCC has developed department-specific guidelines for employees authorized to disclose information under SCISA and receive information disclosed by other institutions under the act.
IRCC has developed a policy manual on how IRCC officials may work with SCISA. The manual provides information regarding topics such as disclosure and collection of information, directives on safekeeping, retention and record-keeping, and lists the limited IRCC positions that have been delegated for disclosure and receiving information under the act. Other tools, such as a step-by-step instructional document on the disclosure of information under SCISA, have also been made available to IRCC employees.
Given IRCC's responsibilities with regard to immigration, citizenship, and passport issuance, it is required to maintain a large volume of immigration records, and is a key institution for questions pertaining to the identity of newcomers and Canadians born here or abroad. Consequently, IRCC engages in reciprocal information-sharing with other government institutions to ensure the efficient use of government holdings while safeguarding the privacy rights of all individuals.
In the past, the absence of clear national security disclosure authorities made it cumbersome for partner agencies to support each other in countering threats to national security. SCISA has added a valuable tool to the information-sharing toolbox by allowing for the disclosure, sometimes proactive, of specific and targeted information to listed institutions. SCISA does not override any provisions found in existing legislation, such as the Privacy Act, but it does constitute a clear authority for efficient and expeditious information-sharing for national security purposes.
Since August 2015, IRCC has disclosed information in response to requests from security partners on 64 occasions, and in six instances has proactively disclosed information to partner agencies. IRCC has also been the recipient of information on one occasion, information that has been used in an investigation for revocation of citizenship under the Citizenship Act.
For illustrative purposes, I'd like to present you two possible scenarios for when information might be disclosed under SCISA.
First, in the context of an individual suspected of travelling abroad to engage in terrorism-related activity, IRCC may be the first institution aware of the potential return to Canada of this individual, as he or she may have to apply for travel documents to return to Canada. Under SCISA, IRCC has the authority to proactively inform institutions listed under the act to ensure that key partners are aware of the imminent return and are ready to respond to the potential threat to the national security of Canada. Prior to SCISA, there was no mechanism in place to promptly and proactively share such information.
Second, as a listed institution under SCISA, IRCC can also benefit from other federal institutions disclosing information to IRCC, which could support the department's mandate in relation to national security. A federal institution may come across information demonstrating that an individual who is a citizenship applicant has ties to terrorism, for example, through the financing of terrorist organizations. SCISA is an explicit authority for all federal government institutions to disclose information to designated recipients such as IRCC. Therefore, the institution could release to IRCC information related to the applicant's ties to terrorism, allowing the department to make an informed decision on the individual's citizenship grant. Before SCISA, it would have been difficult for an institution that had no specific information-sharing mechanism or authority related to national security in place to disclose such information to IRCC, and the individual may have received Canadian citizenship.
The authorities provided for in SCISA enable enhanced collaboration and better targeted information sharing through interactions among program experts of the listed institutions. The number of instances in which SCISA has been used is minimal compared to the volume of IRCC holdings, and it has been used in very specific situations.
Once again, we would like to thank you for inviting us to appear here today to discuss SCISA. We are happy to answer any questions from committee members about anything we have presented today.