The intelligence commissioner of Canada () is an independent officer of the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

charged with quasi-judicial review of the two most biggest intelligence agencies, the

Canadian Security Intelligence Service The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS, ; french: Service canadien du renseignement de sécurité, ''SCRS'') is Canada's primary national intelligence agency. It is responsible for collecting, analysing, reporting and disseminating int ...

(CSIS) and the

Communications Security Establishment The Communications Security Establishment (CSE; french: Centre de la sécurité des télécommunications, ''CST''), formerly (from 2008-2014) called the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), is the Government of Canada's national ...

(CSE) – before the agencies engage in certain espionage activities. The intelligence commissioner heads the Office of the Intelligence Commissioner of Canada (), the agency which supports the work of the commissioner. The position is a

Governor in Council The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it would mean the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of a ...

appointment made on the advice of the

prime minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as su ...

. The commissioner is accountable to the Parliament of Canada through the prime minister, who receives an annual report from the commissioner and tables it in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

. The inaugural intelligence commissioner of Canada is Jean-Pierre Plouffe, who took office on July 12, 2019 and served until October 1, 2022. The present intelligence commissioner of Canada is Simon Noël, who took office on October 1, 2022.

Background

The office was established as part of the '' National Security Act, 2017'', an omnibus bill introduced by the Trudeau government which reworked many of the existing mechanisms within the intelligence community in Canada, including oversight of intelligence gathering and any actions taken by intelligence agencies on behalf of the Government of Canada.

Accountability

The intelligence commissioner issues a report on their activity to the prime minister annually who must table it in Parliament after removing confidential and classified information. The commissioner is entitled to receive all reports which are compiled by the

National Security and Intelligence Review Agency The National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA; french: Office de surveillance des activités en matière de sécurité nationale et de renseignement, OSSNR) is an independent government agency organized to review all national securi ...

(NSIRA).

List of intelligence commissioners of Canada

References

External links

* {{Authority control Federal departments and agencies of Canada Officers of the Parliament of Canada