Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do

The Secretariat’s core responsibility consists of assisting the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians in fulfilling its mandate as outlined in Section 8(1) of the NSICOP Act, which is to review:

• The legislative, regulatory, policy, administrative and financial framework for national security and intelligence;
• Any activity carried out by a department that relates to national security or intelligence, unless the activity is an ongoing operation and the appropriate Minister determines that the review would be injurious to national security; and
• Any matter relating to national security or intelligence that a minister of the Crown refers to the Committee.

The Secretariat ensures the Committee receives timely access to relevant, classified information and strategic and expert advice in the exercise of Committee reviews. It assists in the development of Committee reports and provides support to ensure compliance with security requirements.

For more general information about the department, see the “Supplementary information” section of this report.