Canadian Intelligence Eh

Episode 200 - Why doesn't Canada have a foreign intelligence service?

January 03, 2024
Episode 200 - Why doesn't Canada have a foreign intelligence service?
Canadian Intelligence Eh
More Info
Canadian Intelligence Eh
Episode 200 - Why doesn't Canada have a foreign intelligence service?
Jan 03, 2024

 Canada is an outlier in the '5 Eyes' intelligence club (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US) in that it does not have an independent foreign intelligence (FI) service. There is an FI SIGINT (signals intelligence agency) CSE (Communications Security Establishment) and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) does have a FI mandate, but a weird one, constrained to collection in Canada (how Canadian, eh?). Do we need one and how would we go about creating one? Borealis speaks with three former CSIS intelligence officers on this issue. 

Show Notes

 Canada is an outlier in the '5 Eyes' intelligence club (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US) in that it does not have an independent foreign intelligence (FI) service. There is an FI SIGINT (signals intelligence agency) CSE (Communications Security Establishment) and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) does have a FI mandate, but a weird one, constrained to collection in Canada (how Canadian, eh?). Do we need one and how would we go about creating one? Borealis speaks with three former CSIS intelligence officers on this issue.