Secretariat of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians’ 2025-26 Departmental Plan
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© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, 2025.
From the Minister
I am pleased to present the 2025-26 Departmental Plan for the Secretariat of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians. This document provides a summary of the Secretariat’s planned activities for the upcoming fiscal year.
The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (the Committee) has a broad mandate to review Canada’s national security and intelligence organizations. The Secretariat assists the Committee in fulfilling its mandate. The Secretariat ensures the Committee receives timely access to relevant, classified information and strategic and expert advice, and assists in the development of the Committee’s reports.
In 2025-26, total planned spending for the Secretariat is $3,760,374, including 12 full-time equivalent staff (these figures include internal services). In 2025-26, the Secretariat will support the completion of ongoing reviews, and support the Committee’s deliberations on a forward review plan. Finally, the Secretariat will prepare for and welcome the members of the next iteration of the Committee after the 45th general election.
The Honourable Steven MacKinnon
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Plans to deliver on the core responsibility and internal services
Core responsibility and internal service
Parliamentary review of national security and intelligence activities
In this section
Description
The core responsibility of the Secretariat is to support Parliamentary review of national security and intelligence activities in Canada, thereby contributing to enhanced transparency and accountability of the national security framework.
Quality of life impacts
The Secretariat’s core responsibility contributes to the “Good Governance” domain of the Quality of Life Framework for Canada and, more specifically, the “Confidence in institutions” indicator. Having national security and intelligence institutions that are trusted to function effectively and treat all people impartially is critical in ensuring that all people in Canada feel safe.
Indicators, results and targets
This section presents details on the department’s indicators, the actual results from the three most recently reported fiscal years, the targets and target dates approved in 2025-26 for Parliamentary review of national security and intelligence activities, the Secretariat’s core responsibility. Details are presented by departmental result.
Table 1: Indicators, results and targets for departmental result
| Departmental result indicators | Actual results | Target | Date to achieve target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Committee’s annual report delivered to the Prime Minister on or before 31 December each year. |
|
The Committee’s 2024 annual report must be delivered to the Prime Minister by 31 December. | December 31, 2025 |
| Committee’s annual report complies with legislative requirements. |
|
This report must meet the requirements of subsection 21(1) of the NSICOP Act. | December 31, 2025 |
Additional information on the detailed results and performance information for the Secretariat of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians’ program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.
Plans to achieve results
The following section describes the planned results for Parliamentary review of national security and intelligence activities in 2025-26.
In 2025-26, the Secretariat will support the Committee to:
- Complete ongoing reviews;
- Complete the Committee’s 2025 Annual Report; and
- Develop a review plan following the 45th general election.
The Secretariat will facilitate the Committee’s engagement with ministers responsible for national security and intelligence, national security and intelligence organizations, external stakeholders, and the Committee’s international counterparts. This engagement will support the Committee in selecting review topics and conducting reviews. The Secretariat will continue to engage with other organizations which review national security and intelligence in Canada, including the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency.
The Secretariat will support the Committee’s engagement with Parliament in the five-year review of the NSICOP Act, once announced. Under section 34 of the NSICOP Act, a comprehensive review of the provisions and operation of the NSICOP Act is to be conducted by a committee of one or both houses of Parliament.
In 2025-26, the Secretariat will also:
- Seek Treasury Board’s approval to rename its core responsibility (Parliamentary review of national security and intelligence activities) to reflect the Committee’s status as a committee of parliamentarians and not a parliamentary committee. The Secretariat plans to do so during the Departmental Results Framework amendment process run by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat every three years, the next one of which is scheduled for fall 2025.
- Update several of its internal policies and procedures to better support the Committee.
- Undertake orientation and transition-related activities after the federal election, if required.
Key risks
The NSICOP Act establishes the Committee’s mandate, its right of access to information, and the limitations to that right of access. In the past, some organizations delayed the provision of information or did not provide requested material relevant to the review that was within the scope of the Committee’s work and statutory rights of access. The Secretariat continues to work with the community and this challenge was not experienced in the past year. However, the Committee observed that departments continue to use an overly broad interpretation of what constitutes a Cabinet confidence in determining which documents are provided to the Committee.
Planned resources to achieve results
Table 2: Planned resources to achieve results for Parliamentary review of national security and intelligence activities
| Resource | Planned |
|---|---|
| Spending | $2,643,480 |
| Full-time equivalents | 9.0 |
Complete financial and human resources information for the Secretariat of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians’ program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.
Related government priorities
Information on the Secretariat’s contributions to Canada’s Federal Implementation Plan on the 2030 Agenda and the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy can be found in its 2023 to 2027 Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy.
Program inventory
Parliamentary review of national security and intelligence activities is supported by the following programs:
- Reviews
- Internal Services
Additional information related to the program inventory for the Parliamentary review of national security and intelligence activities is available on the Results page on GC InfoBase.
Internal services
In this section
Description
Internal services are the services that are provided within a department so that it can meet its corporate obligations and deliver its programs. There are 10 categories of internal services:
- management and oversight services
- communications services
- legal services
- human resources management services
- financial management services
- information management services
- information technology services
- real property management services
- materiel management services
- acquisition management services
Plans to achieve results
Internal services will continue to ensure that the Secretariat is effectively and efficiently meeting its corporate responsibilities.
Planned resources to achieve results
Table 3: Planned resources to achieve results for internal services this year
| Resource | Planned |
|---|---|
| Spending | $1,116,894 |
| Full-time equivalents | 3.0 |
Complete financial and human resources information for the Secretariat of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians’ program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.
Planning for contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses
Government of Canada departments are to meet a target of awarding at least 5% of the total value of contracts to Indigenous businesses each year. This commitment is to be fully implemented by the end of 2024-25.
The Secretariat will continue to support this government priority by seeking out ways to support Indigenous businesses, including the purchase of its office supplies with an Indigenous supplier.
Table 4: Percentage of contracts planned and awarded to Indigenous businesses
| 5% Reporting Field | 2023-24 Actual Result | 2024-25 Forecasted Result | 2025-26 Planned Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total percentage of contracts with Indigenous businesses | 15.50% | 7.79% | 5% |
Planned spending and human resources
This section provides an overview of the Secretariat’s planned spending and human resources for the next three fiscal years and compares planned spending for 2025-26 with actual spending from previous years.
Spending
This section presents an overview of the department's planned expenditures from 2022-23 to 2027-28.
| Core responsibility and internal services | 2025-26 Planned spending |
|---|---|
| Parliamentary review of national security and intelligence activities | $2,674,486 |
| Internal services | $1,085,888 |
Analysis of planned spending by core responsibility
The Secretariat’s planned spending supports salary and operational costs required for the completion of ongoing reviews; the completion of the Committee’s 2025 Annual Report; and the development of a review plan following the 45th general election. The Secretariat’s total spending will remain substantially the same as in the previous year, with the general historical pattern expected to continue.
Budgetary performance summary
Table 5: Three-year spending summary for the core responsibility and internal services (dollars)
| Core responsibility and internal services | 2022-23 Actual expenditures | 2023-24 Actual expenditures | 2024-25 Forecast spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parliamentary Review of National Security and Intelligence Activities | 2,003,822 | 2,068,361 | 1,901,643 |
| Subtotal | 2,003,822 | 2,068,361 | 1,901,643 |
| Internal services | 847,557 | 960,895 | 1,396,728 |
| Total | 2,851,378 | 3,029,255 | 3,298,371 |
Analysis of past three years of spending
The Secretariat’s funding profile remains relatively consistent on a yearly basis. Year over year variances are primarily due to variances in the number of Committee meetings and vacancies within the Committee or its Secretariat.
More financial information from previous years is available on the Finances section of GC InfoBase.
Table 6: Planned three-year spending on the core responsibility and internal services (dollars)
| Core responsibility and internal services | 2025-26 Planned spending | 2026-27 Planned spending | 2027-28 Planned spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parliamentary Review of National Security and Intelligence Activities | 2,643,480 | 2,645,718 | 2,645,718 |
| Subtotal | 2,643,480 | 2,645,718 | 2,645,718 |
| Internal services | 1,116,894 | 1,117,839 | 1,117,839 |
| Total | 3,760,374 | 3,763,557 | 3,763,557 |
Analysis of the next three years of spending
The Secretariat expects that its planned spending for the next three years will be relatively stable, likely with less spending for FY 2025-26 due to a pause in Committee meetings due to the federal election in 2025, resulting in reduced spending on transcription services, document translation, and hospitality.
More detailed financial information on planned spending is available on the Finances section of GC Infobase.
Funding
This section provides an overview of the department's voted and statutory funding for its core responsibility and for internal services. For further information on funding authorities, consult the Government of Canada budgets and expenditures.
Graph 1 summarizes the department's approved voted and statutory funding from 2022-23 to 2027-28.
Text description of graph 1
| Fiscal year | Total | Voted | Statutory |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | 2,851,378 | 2,650,347 | 201,031 |
| 2023-24 | 3,029,255 | 2,820,378 | 208,877 |
| 2024-25 | 3,298,371 | 3,058,155 | 240,216 |
| 2025-26 | 3,760,374 | 3,500,367 | 260,007 |
| 2026-27 | 3,763,557 | 3,503,128 | 260,429 |
| 2027-28 | 3,763,557 | 3,503,128 | 260,429 |
Analysis of statutory and voted funding over a six-year period
The Secretariat’s funding profile remains relatively consistent on a yearly basis. Year over year variances are primarily due to variances in the number of Committee meetings and vacancies within the Committee or its Secretariat.
For further information on the Secretariat’s departmental appropriations, consult the 2025-26 Main Estimates.
Future-oriented condensed statement of operations
The future-oriented condensed statement of operations provides an overview of the Secretariat’s operations for 2024-25 to 2025-26.
Table 7: Future-oriented condensed statement of operations for the year ended March 31, 2026 (dollars)
| Financial information | 2024-25 Forecast results | 2025-26 Planned results | Difference (Planned results minus forecasted) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses | 3,442,232 | 3,975,662 | 533,429 |
| Total revenues | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers | 3,442,232 | 3,975,662 | 533,429 |
Analysis of forecasted and planned results
The Secretariat’s funding profile remains relatively consistent on a yearly basis. Year over year variances are primarily due to variances in the number of Committee meetings, and vacancies within the Committee or its Secretariat.
A more detailed Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and associated Notes for 2025-26, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations with the requested authorities, is available on the Secretariat’s website.
Human resources
This section presents an overview of the department’s actual and planned human resources from 2022‑23 to 2027‑28.
Table 8: Actual human resources for the core responsibility and internal services
| Core responsibility and internal services | 2022-23 Actual full-time equivalents | 2023-24 Actual full-time equivalents | 2024-25 Forecasted full-time equivalents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parliamentary review of national security and intelligence activities | 7.7 | 7.5 | 7.2 |
| Subtotal | 7.7 | 7.5 | 7.2 |
| Internal services | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.6 |
| Total | 8.7 | 8.5 | 8.8 |
Analysis of human resources over the last three years
The Secretariat operated with some vacancies in 2022-23 and 2023-24, including some unfilled Committee positions.
Table 9: Human resources planning summary for the core responsibility and internal services
| Core responsibility and internal services | 2025-26 Planned full-time equivalents | 2026-27 Planned full-time equivalents | 2027-28 Planned full-time equivalents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parliamentary review of national security and intelligence activities | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| Subtotal | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| Internal services | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Total | 12.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 |
Analysis of human resources for the next three years
The Secretariat plans to employ 12 full time equivalent staff for the next three fiscal years.
Corporate information
Departmental profile
Appropriate minister:
The Honourable Steven MacKinnon, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Institutional head:
Lisa-Marie Inman
Ministerial portfolio:
Privy Council Office
Enabling instrument(s):
National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians Act
Year of commencement:
2017
Departmental contact information
Mailing address:
Secretariat of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians
P.O. Box 8015, Station “T”
Ottawa, Ontario
K1G 5A6
Email:
Websites:
Supplementary information tables
Information on the Secretariat’s contributions to Canada’s Federal Implementation Plan on the 2030 Agenda and the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy can be found in its 2023 to 2027 Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy. Information about Gender-based Analysis Plus can be found on the Secretariat’s website.
Federal tax expenditures
The Secretariat’s Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures.
The tax system can be used to achieve public policy objectives through the application of special measures such as low tax rates, exemptions, deductions, deferrals and credits. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for these measures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures.
This report also provides detailed background information on tax expenditures, including descriptions, objectives, historical information and references to related federal spending programs as well as evaluations and GBA Plus of tax expenditures.
Definitions
List of terms
- appropriation (crédit)
- Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
- budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)
- Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.
- core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)
- An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.
- Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)
- A report on the plans and expected performance of an appropriated department over a 3 year period. Departmental Plans are usually tabled in Parliament each spring.
- departmental result (résultat ministériel)
- A consequence or outcome that a department seeks to achieve. A departmental result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.
- departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)
- A quantitative measure of progress on a departmental result.
- departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)
- A framework that consists of the department’s core responsibilities, departmental results and departmental result indicators.
- Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)
- A report on a department’s actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.
- fulltime equivalent (équivalent temps plein)
- A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person year charge against a departmental budget. For a particular position, the fulltime equivalent figure is the ratio of number of hours the person actually works divided by the standard number of hours set out in the person’s collective agreement.
- gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS Plus])
Is an analytical tool used to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs, and other initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issue or opportunity being addressed by the initiative; identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the people most impacted; and anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative. GBA Plus is an intersectional analysis that goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography (including rurality), language, race, religion, and sexual orientation.
Using GBA Plus involves taking a gender- and diversity-sensitive approach to our work. Considering all intersecting identity factors as part of GBA Plus, not only sex and gender, is a Government of Canada commitment.
- government priorities (priorités gouvernementales)
- For the purpose of the 2025-26 Departmental Plan, government priorities are the high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the November 23, 2021, Speech from the Throne: building a healthier today and tomorrow; growing a more resilient economy; bolder climate action; fight harder for safer communities; standing up for diversity and inclusion; moving faster on the path to reconciliation; and fighting for a secure, just and equitable world.
- horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)
- An initiative where two or more federal departments are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.
- Indigenous business (enterprise autochtones)
- For the purpose of the Directive on the Management of Procurement Appendix E: Mandatory Procedures for Contracts Awarded to Indigenous Businesses and the Government of Canada’s commitment that a mandatory minimum target of 5% of the total value of contracts is awarded to Indigenous businesses, an organization that meets the definition and Arequirements as defined by the Indigenous Business Directory.
- non‑budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)
- Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.
- performance (rendement)
- What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.
- performance indicator (indicateur de rendement)
- A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an department, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.
- plan (plan)
- The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally, a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead to the expected result.
- planned spending (dépenses prévues)
For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in Main Estimates.
A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.
- program (programme)
- Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within the department and focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.
- program inventory (répertoire des programmes)
- Identifies all the department’s programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the department’s core responsibilities and results.
- result (résultat)
- A consequence attributed, in part, to an department, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single department, policy, program or initiative; instead they are within the area of the department’s influence.
- statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)
- Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.
- target (cible)
- A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.
- voted expenditures (dépenses votées)
- Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an appropriation act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.
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