Tom Venner Executive Director General, Security Screening Branch, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Mr. Chair and honourable members, good afternoon. I am pleased to be here today to explain the role of CSIS in supporting Canada's immigration system.
As part of our mandate, CSIS assists the government in preventing individuals who pose a threat to the security of Canada and Canadians from entering or obtaining status in this country. Maintaining the integrity of our immigration system is a vital part of strengthening Canada's security environment. The service's security screening program serves as a first line of defence against threats such as terrorism and espionage.
Using the security-related provisions in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, or IRPA, we assess whether visitors, refugee claimants, prospective immigrants, or potential permanent residents are, or are reasonably believed to be, foreign agents involved in terrorist organizations or people engaged in other violent activities. Advice on individuals of concern is then provided to our colleagues at the Canada Border Services Agency to help inform their recommendations. Our aim is to ensure that those who are inadmissible to Canada for security reasons are identified as early as possible in the process and are prevented from entering Canada.
To be clear, we do not make or enforce immigration decisions. That is left to our colleagues at CBSA and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration. Our job is to identify potential threats and to provide related advice to government.
To give you a scale of our activities in relation to Canada's immigration system, during the last fiscal year alone, CSIS received close to 200,000 citizenship screening requests, approximately 79,000 permanent residence screening requests, over 71,000 visa vetting requests, and over 17,000 refugee screening requests.
Many national security reasons can disqualify individuals from entering Canada. Activities such as terrorism and espionage, for example, are undeniable threats to our national security.
Terrorism—especially Islamist extremist violence—remains the greatest threat to the security of Canada and Canadians. Some individuals with ties to terrorist organizations may attempt to come to Canada, whether it is to export their extremist ideology to Canada, carry out violent attacks within our borders or use this country as a refuge while they plan attacks against other countries.
Canada is also an attractive target for espionage activities—be they of a political or economic nature—and foreign agents continue to seek to enter Canada to conduct covert activities detrimental to the country.
Perhaps less well known, activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are also conducted in Canada. Individuals may seek to come to Canada to acquire knowledge or procure material that can then be used to develop illicit weapons programs in other countries.
Finally, the service also investigates illegal migration networks where there is a suspected nexus to terrorism. Ultimately, the objective of these investigations is to prevent illegal migration ventures from reaching Canadian shores, but when they are successful, CSIS then plays an important role in screening the new arrivals against admissibility criteria.
To summarize, Mr. Chair, there are real threats from abroad to the security of Canada and Canadians, and individuals who represent such threats need to be prevented from gaining entry or status in this country. We at CSIS play an important role in identifying these threats early and in supporting decision-makers at CBSA and CIC in determining admissibility and status.
Together with our partners, we work diligently to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Canada's immigration system in order to ensure that it is not exploited by people acting against the interests of this country.
With that said, Mr. Chair, I will end my remarks. I will be pleased to answer any questions.
Thank you.
