Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-23)

Marginal note:Process for resolution of disputes of support staff

• 9 (1) Notwithstanding the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act,

  • (a) the process for resolution of a dispute applicable to employees of the Service in a bargaining unit determined for the purposes of that Act is by the referral of the dispute to arbitration; and

  • (b) the process for resolution of a dispute referred to in paragraph (a) shall not be altered pursuant to that Act.

• Marginal note:Public Service Superannuation Act

  (2) Employees of the Service shall be deemed to be employed in the public service for the purposes of the Public Service Superannuation Act.

9.1 [Repealed, 2003, c. 22, s. 145]

Marginal note:Oaths

10 The Director and every employee shall, before commencing the duties of office, take an oath of allegiance and the oaths set out in Schedule 1.

Marginal note:Certificate

11 A certificate purporting to be issued by or under the authority of the Director and stating that the person to whom it is issued is an employee or is a person, or a person included in a class of persons, to whom a warrant issued under section 21 or 23 is directed is evidence of the statements contained therein and is admissible in evidence without proof of the signature or official character of the person purporting to have issued it.

Duties and Functions of Service

Datasets

Marginal note:Definitions

11.01 The following definitions apply in sections 11.01 to 11.25.

approved class

approved class means a class of Canadian datasets, the collection of which is determined to be authorized by the Minister under section 11.03 and that has been approved by the Commissioner under the Intelligence Commissioner Act. (catégorie approuvée)

Canadian

Canadian in respect of a person, means a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act or a corporation incorporated or continued under the laws of Canada or a province. (Canadien)

dataset

dataset means a collection of information that

• (a) is characterized by a common subject matter;

• (b) is stored as an electronic record;

• (c) contains personal information, as defined in section 3 of the Privacy Act; and

• (d) is relevant to the performance of the Service’s duties and functions under any of sections 12 to 16 but cannot be collected or retained under any of those sections. (ensemble de données)

designated employee

designated employee means an employee who is designated under section 11.04 or 11.06. (employé désigné)

exploitation

exploitation means a computational analysis or series of computational analyses that is performed on one or more collections of information for the purpose of obtaining intelligence that would not otherwise be apparent. (exploitation)

publicly available dataset

publicly available dataset means a dataset referred to in paragraph 11.07(1)(a). (ensemble de données accessible au public)

Canadian dataset

Canadian dataset means a dataset described in paragraph 11.07(1)(b). (ensemble de données canadien)

foreign dataset

foreign dataset means a dataset described in paragraph 11.07(1)(c). (ensemble de données étranger)

query

query means a specific search or series of specific searches, with respect to a person or entity, that is performed on one or more collections of information for the purpose of obtaining intelligence. (interrogation)

11.02 [Repealed, 2024, c. 16, s. 9]

Marginal note:Classes — Canadian datasets

• 11.03 (1) The Minister shall, by order, determine classes of Canadian datasets for which collection is authorized.

• Marginal note:Criteria

  (2) The Minister may determine that a class of Canadian datasets is authorized to be collected if the Minister concludes that the querying or exploitation of datasets in the class could lead to results that are relevant to the performance of the Service’s duties and functions under section 12, 12.1, 15 or 16.

• Marginal note:Maximum period

  (2.1) An order under subsection (1) is valid for a period of not more than two years.

• Marginal note:Notification of Commissioner

  (3) The Minister shall notify the Commissioner of the Minister’s determination under subsection (1) for the purposes of the Commissioner’s review and approval under the Intelligence Commissioner Act.

• Marginal note:Statutory Instruments Act

  (4) An order made under subsection (1) is not a statutory instrument within the meaning of the Statutory Instruments Act.

Marginal note:Designation of employees — Minister

• 11.04 (1) The Minister may designate employees to carry out the activity referred to in subsection 7(2.1) and section 11.12.

• Marginal note:Statutory Instruments Act

  (2) For greater certainty, the designation of an employee by the Minister under subsection (1) is not a statutory instrument within the meaning of the Statutory Instruments Act.

Marginal note:Collection of datasets

11.05 The Service may collect a dataset only if it reasonably believes that the dataset

• (a) is a publicly available dataset;

• (b) belongs to an approved class; or

• (c) predominantly relates to non-Canadians who are outside Canada.

Marginal note:Collection under section 12, 15 or 16

11.051 If the Service concludes that information that was collected under section 12, 15 or 16 constitutes a dataset or could be used to constitute a dataset, that information is deemed to have been collected as a dataset under section 11.05 on the day on which the Service reached that conclusion.

Marginal note:Collection outside Canada

• 11.052 (1) As soon as feasible after collecting a dataset under section 11.05 outside Canada, the Service shall either destroy the dataset or provide it to a designated employee for the purposes of section 11.07.

• Marginal note:Deemed collection date

  (2) A dataset that is provided to a designated employee under subsection (1) is, for the purposes of section 11.07, deemed to have been collected on the day on which it is provided to the designated employee.

Marginal note:Collection in execution of warrant or production order

• 11.053 (1) If the Service concludes that information that was incidentally collected in the execution of a warrant issued under section 21 or 22.21 or a production order issued under section 20.4 constitutes a dataset or could be used to constitute a dataset, that information is deemed to have been collected as a dataset under section 11.05 on the day on which the Service reached that conclusion.

• Marginal note:Terms and conditions

  (2) The terms and conditions of the warrant or production order continue to apply to the dataset.

Marginal note:Deemed collection date

11.054 If a dataset is deemed to have been collected on more than one day under section 11.051, 11.052 or 11.053 or subsection 11.1(3), the dataset is deemed, for the purposes of section 11.07, to have been collected on the latest of those days.

Marginal note:Designation of employees — Director

• 11.06 (1) The Director may designate employees to carry out one or more activities referred to in sections 11.07, 11.2 and 11.22.

• Marginal note:Delegation

  (1.1) The Director may delegate the designation power set out in subsection (1) to an employee.

• Marginal note:Statutory Instruments Act

  (2) For greater certainty, the designation of an employee under subsection (1) is not a statutory instrument within the meaning of the Statutory Instruments Act.

Marginal note:Evaluation period — datasets

• 11.07 (1) If the Service collects a dataset under section 11.05, a designated employee shall, as soon as feasible but no later than the 180th day after the day on which the dataset was collected, evaluate the dataset and confirm if it

  • (a) was publicly available at the time of collection;

  • (b) predominantly relates to individuals within Canada or Canadians; or

  • (c) predominantly relates to individuals who are not Canadians and who are outside Canada or corporations that were not incorporated or continued under the laws of Canada and who are outside Canada.

• Marginal note:Deeming

  (1.1) If a dataset that is confirmed to be a foreign dataset includes information that relates to individuals within Canada or Canadians and the Service decides to treat it as a Canadian dataset, that dataset is deemed to be a Canadian dataset.

• Marginal note:Evaluation — class

  (2) In the case of a Canadian dataset, a designated employee shall evaluate the dataset and confirm whether it belonged to an approved class on the day on which it was collected and, if it did not, the designated employee shall take the measures set out in section 11.08.

• Marginal note:Limit

  (3) During the evaluation period referred to in subsection (1) and any period of suspension under subsection 11.08(2), a dataset shall not be queried or exploited.

• Marginal note:Comparison

  (3.1) A designated employee may, for the purpose of determining whether it is necessary to make an application for a judicial authorization under subsection 11.13(1) or a request for an authorization under subsection 11.17(1), compare the dataset to other datasets that have been collected by the Service under this Act.

• Marginal note:Consultation

  (4) A designated employee may consult

  • (a) a Canadian dataset, for the purpose of making an application for a judicial authorization referred to in section 11.12; or

  • (b) a foreign dataset, for the purpose of informing the Minister or a designated person whether the criteria set out in paragraphs 11.17(1)(a) and (b) are met.

• Marginal note:Activities of designated employee

  (5) A designated employee may, for the purpose of identifying and organizing the dataset, carry out any of the following activities:

  • (a) deletion of extraneous or erroneous information or information of poor quality;

  • (b) translation;

  • (c) decryption;

  • (d) the application of privacy protection techniques;

  • (e) any activity respecting the organization of the dataset.

• Marginal note:Responsibilities of designated employee

  (6) A designated employee shall, during the evaluation period,

  • (a) delete personal information, as defined in section 3 of the Privacy Act, that in the opinion of the Service is not relevant to the performance of its duties and functions and may be deleted without affecting the integrity of the dataset; and

  • (b) comply with the obligations under section 11.1.

Marginal note:Dataset not within class

• 11.08 (1) If a designated employee confirms that the dataset did not belong to an approved class on the day on which it was collected, the Service shall, without delay,

  • (a) destroy the dataset; or

  • (b) make a request to the Minister for the determination of a new class under section 11.03 to which the dataset would belong.

• Marginal note:Period — suspension

  (2) If the Service makes a request to the Minister under paragraph (1)(b), the 180-day period referred to in subsection 11.07(1) is suspended for the period that begins on the day on which a designated employee confirms that the dataset did not belong to an approved class on the day on which it was collected and ends on the day on which the Commissioner approves, under the Intelligence Commissioner Act, the determination of the Minister in respect of a new class to which the dataset belongs.

• Marginal note:Limit — activity

  (3) A designated employee shall not carry out any activity under subsections 11.07(4) and (5) in respect of the dataset, during the period of suspension described in subsection (2). Subsection 11.07(6) does not apply to the dataset during that period of suspension.

• Marginal note:Destruction

  (4) If the Minister, on a request made under paragraph (1)(b), does not make a determination to authorize a class that would apply to the dataset or the Commissioner, following a review of the Minister’s determination under the Intelligence Commissioner Act, does not approve the determination of the Minister, the Service shall, without delay, destroy the dataset.