Foreign Interference and Security of Information Act

Marginal note:Definitions

• 8 (1) The following definitions apply in this section and sections 9 to 15.

  department

  department means a department named in Schedule I to the Financial Administration Act, a division or branch of the federal public administration set out in column I of Schedule I.1 to that Act and a corporation named in Schedule II to that Act. (ministère)

  government contractor

  government contractor means a person who has entered into a contract or arrangement with Her Majesty in right of Canada, a department, board or agency of the Government of Canada or a Crown corporation as defined in subsection 83(1) of the Financial Administration Act, and includes an employee of the person, a subcontractor of the person and an employee of the subcontractor. (partie à un contrat administratif)

  person permanently bound to secrecy

  person permanently bound to secrecy means

  • (a) a current or former member or employee of a department, division, branch or office of the federal public administration, or any of its parts, set out in the schedule;

  • (a.1) a current or former member of the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency;

  • (a.2) a current or former member of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians; or

  • (b) a person who has been personally served with a notice issued under subsection 10(1) in respect of the person or who has been informed, in accordance with regulations made under subsection 11(2), of the issuance of such a notice in respect of the person. (personne astreinte au secret à perpétuité)

  special operational information

  special operational information means information that the Government of Canada is taking measures to safeguard that reveals, or from which may be inferred,

  • (a) the identity of a person, agency, group, body or entity that was, is or is intended to be, has been approached to be, or has offered or agreed to be, a confidential source of information, intelligence or assistance to the Government of Canada;

  • (b) the nature or content of plans of the Government of Canada for military operations in respect of a potential, imminent or present armed conflict;

  • (c) the means that the Government of Canada used, uses or intends to use, or is capable of using, to covertly collect or obtain, or to decipher, assess, analyse, process, handle, report, communicate or otherwise deal with information or intelligence, including any vulnerabilities or limitations of those means;

  • (d) whether a place, person, agency, group, body or entity was, is or is intended to be the object of a covert investigation, or a covert collection of information or intelligence, by the Government of Canada;

  • (e) the identity of any person who is, has been or is intended to be covertly engaged in an information- or intelligence-collection activity or program of the Government of Canada that is covert in nature;

  • (f) the means that the Government of Canada used, uses or intends to use, or is capable of using, to protect or exploit any information or intelligence referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (e), including, but not limited to, encryption and cryptographic systems, and any vulnerabilities or limitations of those means; or

  • (g) information or intelligence similar in nature to information or intelligence referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (f) that is in relation to, or received from, a foreign entity or terrorist group. (renseignements opérationnels spéciaux)

• Marginal note:Deputy head

  (2) For the purposes of subsections 10(1) and 15(5), the deputy head is

  • (a) for an individual employed in or attached or seconded to a department, the deputy head of the department;

  • (b) for an officer or a non-commissioned member of the Canadian Forces, the Chief of the Defence Staff;

  • (c) for a person who is a member of the exempt staff of a Minister responsible for a department, the deputy head of the department;

  • (d) for a government contractor in relation to a contract with

    • (i) the Department of Public Works and Government Services, the deputy head of that department or any other deputy head authorized for the purpose by the Minister of Public Works and Government Services,

    • (ii) any other department, the deputy head of that department, and

    • (iii) a Crown Corporation within the meaning of subsection 83(1) of the Financial Administration Act, the deputy head of the department of the minister responsible for the Crown Corporation; and

  • (e) for any other person, the Clerk of the Privy Council or a person authorized for the purpose by the Clerk of the Privy Council.