Obtain a security screening for your organization
When bidding on a Government of Canada or a foreign government solicitation with security requirements, your organization must be screened through Public Services and Procurement Canada's Contract Security Program (CSP). This must typically happen before you are awarded the resulting contract. Find out how a single-person consulting firm or a large corporation can obtain a security screening and comply with the contract security requirements.
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Types of organization security clearances
- Provisional security clearance: required if your organization does not already have the required security screening level to access protected or classified information or assets during the pre-solicitation and/or bid preparation phases of a procurement process
- Designated organization screening (DOS): required for your organization to obtain contracts at the protected level
- Facility security clearance (FSC): required for your organization to obtain contracts at the classified level
Screening process
Your organization must follow the steps of the screening process listed below.
Getting sponsored
To be security screened by the CSP, your organization must first be sponsored.
For more information, visit the sponsorship process.
Getting screened
The CSP will review the sponsorship request. If approved, the CSP will contact your organization directly to start the screening process.
You will be asked to do the following steps:
1. Complete the Application for registration form
To be sponsored for a security screening during a contract process (whether it is as part of a pre-solicitation, a competitive solicitation or a sole source contract), your organization must submit a completed Application for registration (AFR) form. The form must be signed and dated within the last 6 months and then provided to the procurement officer overseeing the process or contract. All required fields must be filled out and all supporting documents listed in the AFR form must be included, such as:
- information about your organization's structure
- ownership
- legal status
Note
If your organization fails to provide timely, accurate, and complete information required by the CSP, the screening process will be terminated and the sponsorship will not proceed.
2. Appoint a company security officer (CSO) and, as required, an alternate company security officer (ACSO)
Learn more about appointing a security officer.
3. Complete the required personnel security screening forms for
- the CSO (mandatory for all types of organization security clearances)
- the sole proprietor or all individual partners of a partnership (mandatory)
- the ACSO (optional unless requested by the CSP)
- individual owners, officers, directors, managing partners, or other individuals as requested by the CSP based on the official documents provided as part of the organization screening process
- this will normally include, but is not limited to, the chairperson of the board, the chief executive officer, the president, etc.
The CSP will assess the information provided before granting or denying a clearance. You will be contacted directly during this process and when the CSP has determined the results of your organization security screening.
Security agreement for organization clearance
During the screening process, you will complete a legal agreement between the organization and the Government of Canada. This requires your organization to abide by the requirements of the Contract Security Manual (CSM).
Duration of the screening process
The screening process begins once the CSP confirms the organization's eligibility for security screening.
The length of the screening process depends on many factors, including the:
- completeness of forms
- timeliness of the organization’s response to provide information
- level of security screening
- complexity of the organization and individuals being screened
Estimated timelines for organization screenings
- Provisional security clearance: varies depending on the level
- DOS: up to 4 months
- FSC: 6 months or more
Additional organization security safeguards will add to these timeframes.
Contact the Contract Security Program if you have questions about the screening process.
Clearance validity period
Organization security clearances are valid for:
- the duration of the bid solicitation process for a provisional security clearance
- 2 years for a DOS
- 1 year for a FSC
At the end of this period, if your organization is not participating in another solicitation process or executing a contract, subcontract or lease with security requirements, the CSP will terminate its organization security clearance.
Learn how to reactivate your organization's security clearance.
Obtain the status of a personnel security screening application
Individuals cannot initiate, nor request status on their own security screenings.
Personnel security screenings belong to the screened organization that made the request. They do not belong to the individual. The CSO or ACSO of the screened organization is authorized on behalf of an individual to:
- initiate a security screening request
- obtain an update on a personnel security screening request
A CSO or ACSO is the only one that can inquire on the status of their own organization’s pending personnel security screening requests.
As such, individuals can direct enquiries on the status of their personnel security screening request to their organization's CSO or ACSO.
Maintain your organization security clearance
It is your responsibility to ensure your organization security clearance information is always kept up to date. Changes that are not reported or not addressed by your organization in a timely manner, will affect the status of your organization security clearance, which can lead to compliance enforcement actions by the CSP. This will also impact your ability to bid on future solicitations. For example, you will be considered non-compliant if your CSO leaves and you do not appoint a replacement immediately.
To report any organizational or personnel changes, contact the Contract Security Program client service centre.
More information
- Consult Chapter 3: Organization screening of the CSM