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Security of Information Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. O-5)

Act current to 2024-02-20 and last amended on 2023-10-06. Previous Versions

Marginal note:Use of trade secret for the benefit of foreign economic entity

  •  (1) Every person commits an offence who, at the direction of, for the benefit of or in association with a foreign economic entity, fraudulently and without colour of right and to the detriment of Canada’s economic interests, international relations or national defence or national security

    • (a) communicates a trade secret to another person, group or organization; or

    • (b) obtains, retains, alters or destroys a trade secret.

  • Marginal note:Punishment

    (2) Every person who commits an offence under subsection (1) is guilty of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years.

  • Marginal note:Defence

    (3) A person is not guilty of an offence under subsection (1) if the trade secret was

    • (a) obtained by independent development or by reason only of reverse engineering; or

    • (b) acquired in the course of the person’s work and is of such a character that its acquisition amounts to no more than an enhancement of that person’s personal knowledge, skill or expertise.

  • Marginal note:Meaning of trade secret

    (4) For the purpose of this section, trade secret means any information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program, method, technique, process, negotiation position or strategy or any information contained or embodied in a product, device or mechanism that

    • (a) is or may be used in a trade or business;

    • (b) is not generally known in that trade or business;

    • (c) has economic value from not being generally known; and

    • (d) is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy.

  • 2001, c. 41, s. 29

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