CSIS security screening risks stereotyping foreign nationals

Canada's security agency is attaching blanket warnings about foreign nationals' countries of origin to federal security clearance assessments — a practice a federal watchdog is warning could amount to discrimination based on citizenship rather than individual threat assessment.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service started adding these "Non-Canadian Citizen Briefs" to clearance applications during the 2023 foreign-interference panic, initially flagging concerns about China's national security laws, which allow Beijing to compel Chinese nationals to provide state information. The practice expanded to include an undisclosed number of other countries.

The National Security and Intelligence Review Agency, an independent federal review body, recently warned that the blanket approach risks biasing government departments against clearing qualified foreign nationals who pose no actual threat.

"Integrated into the person's security assessment, the brief is not bespoke to the individual," NSIRA wrote. "It contains threat-related information about the country with the individual's citizenship being the only connection between the individual and the country. No further information or analysis is included to tailor the information to the individual security screening applicant."

As of 2025, foreign nationals are no longer eligible for top secret or enhanced top secret clearance — so CSIS's country briefs now apply only to applicants for "secret" or "site access" clearance.

Paul Champ, an Ottawa-based human rights lawyer who has represented clients denied employment over security clearance, said one of his clients had worked for the UN handling sensitive material for years but was denied higher clearance by Global Affairs Canada based on country of origin.

"I think it is a problem," Champ said. "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."

CSIS disagreed with the watchdog's concerns, calling its country-specific warnings "fact-based information about national security risks" that reflect the current threat landscape without bias. The agency said it updates the briefs regularly to capture evolving risks.

This tension — balancing security concerns against fairness to newcomers and immigrants — sits at the heart of how Canada approaches hiring for sensitive roles.