When the FBI Comes Calling…®

Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) (CANADA)

Founded:    1984, under the CSIS Act of 1984

Mission:      The predecessor to CSIS was the RCMP Security Service which fell out of public favor following an open and damning investigation by what came to be know as the MacDonald Commission in the late 1960s and on into the early 1970s. As the RCMP was dissolved, the 1984 Act creating the CSIS bequeathed the new organization with responsibilities for internal intelligence responsibilities.

Structure:    Acting in connection with police authorities (Royal Mounties) and the Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada (CISC) -which holds the responsibility of coordinating federal, provincial, and municipal law enforcement data -CSIS uses both HUMINT and TECHINT to keep tabs on threats located domestically. It also has some advisory roles on matters of national security. Though CSIS does not conduct foreign intelligence operations, it does maintain liaison personnel overseas and with the Canadian foreign TECHINT organization, the Canadian Communications Security Establishment (CSE).