At the height of concerns over foreign interference in 2023, Canada’s spy agency started adding blanket warnings to assessments of foreign nationals seeking security clearance to work for the federal government.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) started by warning federal departments about China’s national security laws, which allow Beijing to compel Chinese nationals to provide the state with information.
The spy agency expanded the warnings to include an undisclosed number of other countries, attaching the general warnings to foreign nationals applying to work in sensitive positions with the federal government.
An independent federal review agency is now warning that the practice risks stereotyping foreign nationals and denying them federal work based on their country of origin — but CSIS says they will continue to include the “Non-Canadian Citizen Briefs” in their security screening process.
In a recently released report, the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) warned that CSIS risks biasing departments against clearing foreigners who pose no national security threat.
“Integrated into the person’s security assessment, the brief is not bespoke to the individual. It contains threat-related information about the country with the individual’s citizenship being the only connection between the individual and the country,” the agency wrote.
“No further information or analysis is included to tailor the information to the individual security screening applicant.”
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As of 2025, foreign nationals who are not Canadian citizens are no longer eligible to obtain top secret or enhanced top secret clearance, NSIRA noted. So CSIS’s “Non-Canadian Citizen Briefs” are only applied to applicants for “secret” or “site access” clearance.
Paul Champ, an Ottawa-based human rights and labour lawyer, has represented clients denied employment for failing to obtain security clearance.
In one ongoing case, Champ said his client had worked for the UN, dealing with highly sensitive material for years, but Global Affairs Canada denied his application for higher clearance.
Champ contends that was based on his client’s country of origin.
“I think it is a problem. Canada, we’re definitely a pluralistic society and democracy … but the reality is, unless you are born here, you’re always inherently suspect in some way when it comes to employment with the federal government,” Champ said in an interview Friday.
CSIS did not say how many of those applicants had been cleared by the departments and agencies ultimately responsible for granting or denying security clearance.
But the spy agency disagreed with NSIRA’s warning, calling their country-specific warnings “fact-based information about national security risks associated with certain countries.”
“CSIS’ special country briefs are designed to reflect the current threat landscape, without bias or discrimination, and are updated regularly to ensure that they accurately capture evolving risks and threats posed,” the agency wrote in response.
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“Security assessments are just one component of sources of information a government department may consider in its decision-making process on a security clearance application.”
The country-specific warnings started in 2023 with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Despite Prime Minister Mark Carney’s overtures to Beijing to improve diplomatic and trade relations, the PRC has long been viewed by the Canadian intelligence community as the country’s largest national security threat.
That threat includes foreign interference and influence campaigns, economic espionage and more traditional forms of spying that would interest CSIS in the security screening process.
Under the PRC’s wide-reaching national intelligence laws, Chinese nationals can be induced to provide information to Beijing. The PRC has also been accused of leveraging friends and family still in China to coerce expats into working for the state.
But since 2023, CSIS has expanded the briefings to include an undisclosed number of other countries where no similar national security laws are cited, NSIRA noted.
“While the brief states that the CSIS ‘has not identified specific adverse or threat-related information regarding the subject,’ they continue that the individual ‘may be at risk of being induced to cooperate with a hostile foreign state in a way that constitutes a threat to the security of Canada,’” NSIRA reported.
“The fact that a certain country of origin may be viewed as suspect … that’s fine, we get that. But it just means that (CSIS) needs to be thoughtful and deliberate in terms of looking at other collateral sources (to assess) reliability,” Champ said.
“If you don’t do that, you’re basically saying ‘we have a discriminatory policy.’”
Illegitimate political organization makes stupid comments.
Security over political correctness. Please
When you have region’s of the planet sending proves of criminals and terrorists into the country you should treat people from there more sus.
I wouldn’t hire pedos to work in day cares that’s a stereotype right, pedos and kids,,,,there is a reason for that…
Why is it canada isn’t roaming with sweeeeesish gangs rayping killing people on the highways, causing crime tourism, mass car theft rings and extortion gangs. People from the UK dont try to fight for an Islamic state in BC.
Stereotyping means they are finally doing their job right
This is a none issue, why is this even an article?
How much tax dollars get funneled to this NGO? This is why Trump is doing what hes doing. We need Nick Shirley.
This won’t matter anyways since you can doctor up some paperwork and just get citizenship from your Chinese “ancestors” who helped build the Canadian railroad back in 1802 lol.
Stereotype, please. Do whatever it takes to start saying “No”
The fact remains that CSIS accused our Government officials and politicians of collusion for the benefit of a foreign entity while Liberals decided to do nothing.
If you think, for a moment, maybe, government stifling investigations into foreign interference might be attributable to negative feelings towards those accused entities accused criminal misconduct, you might not be brain dead, and may actually have a basic understanding of why our judicial system is separate from government.
We live in a world intelligent enough to notice what separates us but too stupid to see what unites us while at the same time being smart enough to perceive a negative trajectory while simultaneously being too obsessed by a responsibility to make a decision the average person contemplates before noon because we are too important to be wrong, even when we are textbook, or technically wrong, and we know it.
Stereotypes are not based on mythical evil beings that lurk in the dark.
They are observed commonalities as percieved by people throughout the ages.
Anyone thinking a stereotype is based on underlying prejudice has never had a real friend.
So prior to 2025 why in hell would Canada allow foreigners nationals with no canadian citizenship secret security clearances??? No wonder we have so much foreign interference. This country is such a joke. So terrified to hurt someone’s feelings. Time for the government to grow a set and start protecting real canadians and the country.
Nothing says Independent quite like an organization created by a government in denial with a government website.
Mental note: NSIRA is a fake independent organization created by the Liberal government.
CSIS is worthless.
I don’t think any foreign nationals should be able to work for the federal government, in any role. We don’t know where their loyalties lie. These jobe should only be considered for natural born or naturalized Canadians. Period!
Stereotypes tend to naturally evolve from a clear and demonstrative pattern and that should NOT be ignored. Judge a man by his actions.
Foreign interference is keeping the LPC in power. Why would they try and stop it?
We used to have one of the best vetting processes in the world. The UN asked Canada to share its process in order to create a worldwide policy. They stopped following that during the Trudeau regimes time. It’s kind of obvious that there was an agenda involved in stopping it. It doesn’t make sense any other way. This is one of the unintended consequences, I guess. Some very good people will be treated poorly as a result.
The media always calls them a “spy” agency tryign to liken them to your typical CIA or MI6, but in reality CSIS actually has very limited capabilities.
We may have to look at whether NSIRA has been compromised by foreign entities such as China. How better to affect policies that would allow for information and state secrets to flow out of the country than by infiltrating the watchdog of any Canadian institution that has a national security directive. That’s what I’d do if I were China.
Too bad for appu prajeet. The threat of foreign interference is too significant to allow these woketard zealots to medal in real security issues.
Just admit you let too many foreigners in and now foreign interference is unavoidable.