CSIS offers a unique career experience, as  the roles all support the mandate to protect Canadians and Canada’s national security and interests from threats. However, like any other workplace, CSIS has its challenges concerning hiring and retention, as there are several considerations and sacrifices that come with working in a classified environment. The professional and personal implications of working for CSIS include the impacts of working in a Top Secret environment, including the intrusive screening process, requirements to maintain a security clearance, and identity protections. The restrictions implicating employees’ personal  lives also include travel limitations and prohibitions of electronic devices, amongst others. Our ability to provide telework options is limited, requiring the vast majority of employees to work on site. 

In consideration of these challenges and after extensive consultations with hundreds of CSIS employees across the country, my team and I launched the Employee Retention and Attraction (ERA) plan in late 2023 to transform CSIS into a more people-focused organization while ensuring we continue to support the CSIS mandate and crucial work of all employees. The ERA prioritizes six areas to improve the overall experience of people at work: connection to the mission; career growth and development; leadership; inclusivity, empowerment and engagement; competitive salary and benefits; and greater work flexibilities and life-work balance. We are entering a new era at CSIS, one that places our valued existing and prospective employees first. I am confident that this strategy, through its many timely and necessary changes, will facilitate an improved employer-employee relationship at CSIS that will help us retain and attract great talent.

Canadians who have considered working at CSIS, or are just hearing of us now, should know that a career in security intelligence is highly rewarding. CSIS employees work to protect Canada’s national security and safeguard its people and secrets. We offer over one hundred types of positions in support of the mission that range from intelligence collection, analysis, information technology, human resources, finance, and linguistics among countless other roles. We are always seeking talent with experience in a variety of sectors, fields, or educational backgrounds. From security intelligence employees, IT professionals, service industry professionals or graduating students, rest assured, CSIS has a role for you.

In recent years, CSIS has made great strides in ensuring that its workforce is representative of Canadian society. Not only is this the fair and right objective, but it also ensures CSIS is operationally better as it can draw on the cultural, linguistic, and personal experiences of employees from across Canada. In support of ongoing efforts to foster diversity and inclusivity, we launched our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Strategy in 2022 to provide a strategic framework for how CSIS intends to meet its objectives in this critical space. Ensuring a diverse workforce is critical to protecting national security, as having an in-house understanding of different cultures, practices, and beliefs are integral to building relationships with the countless Canadian communities we protect. The same can be said for the executive leadership at CSIS, which is why we strive to build a truly diverse executive team at CSIS to not only ensure significant decisions are informed by a variety of perspectives but also to ensure that CSIS better reflects the diversity of Canada and Canadians.

Renée de Bellefeuille, Assistant Director of Human Resources at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. 

In recent years, CSIS has made great strides in its effort to become a more people-focused organization that better supports all current and future CSIS employees.

In late 2022 and throughout 2023, classified CSIS and Government of Canada intelligence was distributed in an unauthorized manner and subsequently published for public consumption. The information was allegedly provided by an anonymous source with knowledge of national security affairs. Although some may praise the actions of the individual, unauthorized disclosure, no matter the motive or intent of those carrying out the act, causes significant harm to national security and the safety of Canadians. 

Adversaries are consistently searching for new avenues to undermine Canada’s security. Unauthorized disclosure of classified information can endanger intelligence collection methods used by CSIS. Much of the intelligence collection is about human interaction and human sources, who serve as important providers of the intelligence that is collected and analyzed by CSIS. Often, these sources are members of the general public who put their own safety at risk to offer valuable information in support of national security investigations.

There are times when a particular piece of intelligence can come from a single person or piece of technology. When this intelligence is exposed in an unauthorized manner, ill intentioned people and adversaries could trace the intelligence back to the source. Exposing these sources, even inadvertently through unauthorized disclosure, can threaten lives and national security investigations alike. In the wrong hands, adversaries can take advantage of the situation by implementing measures to reduce the effectiveness of CSIS’ counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism operations, which can result in putting the lives of brave Canadians, working diligently to support the security of Canada, at risk.

The unauthorized disclosure of classified information reduces CSIS’ ability to help protect our national interests, innovation, economy, and puts the personal safety of Canadians both domestically and abroad, at risk from threats posed by hostile state actors and violent extremist organizations. Moreover, it erodes the hard-earned trust of Canada’s closest allies and intelligence partners, who may begin to doubt our ability to protect not only our own secrets, but theirs as well.

In response to the unauthorized disclosures, CSIS launched an internal investigation and supported other investigations across the Government of Canada, including the RCMP’s investigation into the matter. Current and former Government of Canada employees who obtained security clearances have a legal responsibility to protect classified information—a responsibility that extends beyond their employment with the federal government. There are legitimate reasons for this, and divulging classified information should not be treated as a noble act.

CSIS employees are dedicated and professional in carrying out their mission. Unauthorized dissemination undermines their efforts in painstakingly collecting and analyzing information on investigations. Unlawful sharing of intelligence poses a direct threat to Canada’s national security.

There are processes in place within the Government of Canada that allow individuals to express concerns related to classified matters in a manner that does not damage Canada’s national security and place the safety and security of human sources and national security employees at risk. It is paramount that these processes are followed. ■

Jerome Laliberté, Deputy Director of Administration at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.