Countering Foreign Interference Act (S.C. 2024, c. 16)
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Assented to 2024-06-20
Countering Foreign Interference Act
S.C. 2024, c. 16
Assented to 2024-06-20
An Act respecting countering foreign interference
RECOMMENDATION
Her Excellency the Governor General recommends to the House of Commons the appropriation of public revenue under the circumstances, in the manner and for the purposes set out in a measure entitled “An Act respecting countering foreign interference”.
SUMMARY
Part 1 amends the Canadian Security Intelligence Act to, among other things,
(a) update provisions respecting the collection, retention, querying and exploitation of datatsets;
(b) clarify the scope of section 16 of that Act;
(c) update provisions respecting the disclosure of information by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service;
(d) provide for preservation orders and production orders as well as warrants to obtain information, records, documents or things through a single attempt;
(e) expand the circumstances in which a warrant to remove a thing from the place where it was installed may be issued; and
(f) require a parliamentary review of that Act every five years.
It also makes a consequential amendment to the Intelligence Commissioner Act.
Part 2 amends the Security of Information Act to, among other things, create the following offences:
(a) committing an indictable offence at the direction of, for the benefit of, or in association with a foreign entity;
(b) knowingly engaging in surreptitious or deceptive conduct at the direction of, for the benefit of or in association with a foreign entity for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State or being reckless as to whether the conduct is likely to harm Canadian interests; and
(c) engaging in surreptitious or deceptive conduct, at the direction of or in association with a foreign entity, with the intent to influence, among other things, the exercise of a democratic right in Canada.
It also amends that Act to remove as an element of the offence of inducing or attempting to induce — at the direction of, for the benefit of or in association with a foreign entity or terrorist group — by intimidation, threat or violence, a person to do anything or cause anything to be done, that the thing be done for the purpose of harming Canadian interests when the person who is alleged to have committed the offence or the victim has a link to Canada.
It also amends the Criminal Code to, among other things, broaden the scope of the sabotage offence to include certain acts done in relation to essential infrastructures and ensure that certain provisions respecting the interception of “private communications” as defined in that Act apply to certain offences in the Foreign Interference and Security of Information Act.
Finally, it makes consequential amendments to other Acts.
Part 3 amends the Canada Evidence Act and makes consequential amendments to other Acts to, among other things,
(a) create a general scheme to deal with information relating to international relations, national defence or national security in the course of proceedings that are in the Federal Court or the Federal Court of Appeal and that are in respect of any decision of a federal board, commission or other tribunal;
(b) permit the appointment of a special counsel for the purposes of protecting the interests of a non-governmental party to those proceedings in respect of such information; and
(c) allow a person charged with an offence to appeal a decision, made under the Canada Evidence Act with respect to the disclosure of certain information in relation to criminal proceedings, only after the person has been convicted of the offence, unless there are exceptional circumstances justifying an earlier appeal.
It also adds references to international relations, national defence and national security in a provision of the Criminal Code that relates to the protection of information, as well as references to international relations and national defence in certain provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that equally relate to the protection of information.
Part 4 enacts the Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act which, among other things,
(a) provides for the appointment of an individual to be known as the Foreign Influence Transparency Commissioner;
(b) requires certain persons to provide the Commissioner with certain information if they enter into arrangements with foreign principals under which they undertake to carry out certain activities in relation to political or governmental processes in Canada;
(c) requires the Commissioner to establish and maintain a publicly accessible registry that contains information about those arrangements;
(d) provides the Commissioner with tools to administer and enforce that Act; and
(e) amends the Public Service Superannuation Act, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians Act and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency Act.
His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
Short Title
Marginal note:Short title
1 This Act may be cited as the Countering Foreign Interference Act.
PART 1R.S., c. C-23Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act
Amendments to the Act
2 The heading before section 2 of the French version of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act is replaced by the following:
Définitions et interprétation
3 The definitions Canadian, dataset, exploitation and query in section 2 of the Act are repealed.
4 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 2:
Marginal note:Forms
2.1 If this Act requires that a form be used, the form may incorporate any variations that the circumstances require.
5 (1) Subsection 7(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Consultation with Deputy Minister — warrant
(2) The Director or any employee who is designated by the Minister for the purpose of applying for a warrant under section 21, 21.1, 22.21 or 23 shall consult the Deputy Minister before applying for the warrant or, if applicable, the renewal of the warrant.
(2) Section 7 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2.1):
Marginal note:Consultation with Deputy Minister — production order
(2.2) The Director or any employee who is designated by the Minister for the purpose of applying for a production order under section 20.4 shall consult the Deputy Minister before applying for the order.
6 Section 10 of the Act is replaced by the following:
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.
7 The Act is amended by adding the following before section 11.01:
Datasets
8 Section 11.01 of the Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
9 Section 11.02 of the Act is repealed.
10 Subsections 11.03(1) and (2) of the Act are replaced by the following:
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.
11 Section 11.05 of the Act is replaced by the following:
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.
12 (1) Section 11.06 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1):
Marginal note:Delegation
(1.1) The Director may delegate the designation power set out in subsection (1) to an employee.
(2) Subsection 11.06(2) of the English version of the Act is replaced by the following:
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.
13 (1) The portion of subsection 11.07(1) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:
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
(2) Subsection 11.07(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:
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.
(3) Section 11.07 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (3):
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.
(4) Paragraph 11.07(6)(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:
(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
14 (1) The portion of subsection 11.08(1) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:
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,
(2) Subsection 11.08(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:
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.
15 (1) Subsections 11.09(1) and (2) of the Act are replaced by the following:
Marginal note:End of evaluation period — Canadian datasets
11.09 (1) If a designated employee confirms that a dataset is a Canadian dataset or if a dataset is deemed to be a Canadian dataset under subsection 11.07(1.1), the Service shall make an application for judicial authorization under section 11.13 as soon as feasible but no later than the 180th day referred to in subsection 11.07(1).
Marginal note:End of evaluation period — foreign datasets
(2) If the designated employee confirms that a dataset is a foreign dataset, the Service shall ensure that the dataset is brought to the attention of the Minister or the designated person, as soon as feasible but no later than the 180th day referred to in subsection 11.07(1), so as to enable the Minister or designated person to make a determination to authorize its retention under section 11.17.
(2) Subsection 11.09(3) of the French version of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Destruction
(3) À l’expiration du délai de cent quatre-vingts jours, si le Service n’a pas agi conformément aux paragraphes (1) ou (2), il est tenu de détruire l’ensemble de données recueilli.
16 (1) Subsection 11.1(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Continuing obligations of Service
11.1 (1) The Service shall take reasonable measures to ensure that
(a) any information in respect of which there is a reasonable expectation of privacy that relates to the physical or mental health of an individual is deleted from a Canadian dataset or a foreign dataset;
(b) any information that is subject to solicitor-client privilege or the professional secrecy of advocates and notaries is deleted from a Canadian dataset; and
(c) any information that by its nature or attributes relates to a Canadian or a person in Canada is removed from a foreign dataset.
(2) Subsection 11.1(3) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Non-application
(2.1) Subsection (2) does not apply to information that is being retained under subsection 11.21(1).
Marginal note:Deeming
(3) A dataset collected under paragraph (2)(b) is deemed to have been collected under section 11.05 on the day on which the information that constitutes the dataset was removed from the foreign dataset.
17 Section 11.11 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):
Marginal note:Disclosure
(3) The Service may disclose a publicly available dataset and, if it does so, section 19 does not apply to the disclosure.
18 Paragraph 11.12(2)(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:
(a) the approved class to which the Canadian dataset belongs or to which it belonged on the day on which it was collected; and
19 (1) Paragraph 11.13(1)(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:
(a) the retention of the dataset that is the subject of the application is likely to assist the Service in the performance of its duties and functions under section 12, 12.1, 15 or 16; and
(2) Subsection 11.13(2) of the Act is amended by adding the following after paragraph (b):
(b.1) the manner in which the Service intends to disclose the dataset;
20 Subsection 11.14(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Disclosure of dataset
(1.1) The judicial authorization shall also establish any terms and conditions that the judge considers necessary respecting the disclosure of the dataset by the Service.
Marginal note:Non-application
(1.2) Section 19 does not apply to the disclosure of the dataset.
Marginal note:Maximum period
(2) The judicial authorization is valid for a period of not more than five years.
- Date modified: