Public Safety committee  That is an interesting question. I don't know if any predecessors have addressed this issue. Currently, we have a very clear list of who can do so. We have very clear instructions for citizens. When someone asks them for a social insurance number and they are not on the list of

Public Safety committee  Yes, it would be something to check, but I don't have any information on that today.

Public Safety committee  Absolutely. To be proactive, we have put additional information on our website. We have issued press releases. We used social media, as you said. We hold workshops on the social insurance number in several communities. These are workshops that are given on a regular basis and I

Public Safety committee  That is an excellent question. As I always say, it is important, when you have situations like this, to review and rethink certain things. As far as the social insurance number is concerned, as I said, it is one of several identifiers. At the federal level—and, of course, in ma

Public Safety committee  You are absolutely right. You do not have a PIN. Is this something we could consider? Maybe. What is important to say is that, to access a service, you must give other identifiers such as the line...

Public Safety committee  You raise an interesting question. The first thing to do, according to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, is to inform third parties. As you have heard, Desjardins has contacted us to ensure that we will provide the information and help Desjardins

Public Safety committee  In view of the multiple leaks that can occur, the goal is to ensure that citizens and the benefits due to them, whether tax refunds or other benefits, are always protected. That is why we worked very closely with Desjardins to define what measures would enable us to support it in

Public Safety committee  The social insurance number is an identifier that provides access to federal programs and services, as well as to income and tax systems. In the case involving the federal government, with respect to benefits, for example, my colleague explained that at the Canada Revenue Agency

Public Safety committee  Thank you for your question. All our call centres, Service Canada offices and agents have received very clear instructions. Our call centres and Service Canada offices answered questions from approximately 1,500 citizens. They have informed them of the steps to take, including c

Public Safety committee  As I was saying, despite the number of leaks detected in recent years, there are about 60 cases per year requiring a change in the social insurance number.

Public Safety committee  One of the reasons is that we do not know to whom citizens have given their social insurance number. The social insurance number should only be used as an identifier to link certain information to provide benefits. Individuals are the only ones who know to whom they have given th

Public Safety committee  Thank you for your question. As you know, the social insurance number is one identifier among many. As we have already mentioned, on our website, we are advising citizens that they should only give their social insurance number in very limited circumstances. This is explained t

Public Safety committee  Yes, and that is the most important point. We are talking about a number of identifiers. Each one of the organizations is responsible for checking people’s identity. My colleague said that there must also be a line from the tax return. With employment insurance, there is an acce

Public Safety committee  When you started, you said that the first reason we do not automatically give out social insurance numbers is that it can make life difficult for people. The first reason is actually that it would not really prevent fraud. This is a very important point. People have to continue t

Public Safety committee  A social insurance number is not like a credit card, which is a bank's only way of identifying that person. It is an identifier used by employers for as long as people are in the workforce. It is also used for various programs and services. At the moment, no computer system link