BGRS and SIRVA Canada systems privacy breach affecting current and former federal employees
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On October 19, 2023, BGRS confirmed that there had been a breach involving Government of Canada information held by BGRS and SIRVA Canada systems. These companies provide relocation support to federal employees.
The government took immediate action to investigate the breach, which involves information held by the companies about current and former Government of Canada employees, members of the Canadian Armed Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) personnel. This incident was also reported to the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, and the RCMP.
The companies, SIRVA and BGRS, are working to identify specific individuals that may have been potentially affected; while preliminary information indicated that breached information could belong to anyone who has used relocation services as early as 1999 and may include any personal and financial information that employees provided to the companies, more recent information indicates that the scope of the breach is likely much smaller. The analysis of the data is being completed by the companies and is ongoing.
What should I do?
Take precautionary measures to safeguard financial and personal information online, such as:
- updating login credentials that may be similar to those used with BGRS or SIRVA Canada
- enabling multi-factor authentication on accounts that are used for online transactions
- monitoring financial and personal online accounts for any unusual activity.
If you see unauthorized access to personal or financial accounts, take the following steps:
Step 1
Notify your financial institution immediately
Step 2
Contact local police
Step 3
Contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) using their Online Reporting System or by phone at 1-888-495-8501.
Current and former employees who have questions should contact their departmental Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP)_coordinator.
Credit Monitoring
Starting on December 15, 2023, the Government of Canada offered credit monitoring services for up to one year for all current and former employees and their families potentially affected by the BGRS and SIRVA Canada privacy breach. The credit monitoring services included credit monitoring, dark web monitoring, and identity (ID) theft insurance.
SIRVA will be offering credit or identity monitoring services to certain individuals who are confirmed to have been affected by the breach. SIRVA will be contacting individuals directly with instructions on how to initiate this monitoring.
Related Information
- Message to current and former public service employees and members of the Canadian Armed Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Police - Canada.ca
- Privacy Commissioner initiates investigations into breach impacting federal government personnel who used relocation services
- File a formal privacy complaint
- Protecting yourself from identity theft online (ITSAP.00.033) - Canadian Centre for Cyber Security
- What to do if you're a victim of fraud (antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca)
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