Research Security

Research Security refers to identifying possible risks to your work through unwanted access, interference, or theft and the measures that minimize these risks and protect the inputs, processes, and products that are part of scientific research and discovery.

Services and Information

About the Research Security Centre

Protecting Canadian knowledge and research is critical for Canada's economic prosperity, resilience, and national security.

In Budget 2022, the Government of Canada announced resources to enhance its ability to protect Canadian research. As part of this announcement, Public Safety Canada was given funding to establish the Research Security Centre (the Centre), which provides guidance and advice to the research community and academic institutions.

The Research Security Centre consists of regional advisors across the country and a central hub located in Ottawa.

There are six advisors located in:

Victoria (responsible for British Columbia, Yukon, and Northwest Territories)
Edmonton (responsible for Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba)
Greater Toronto Area (responsible for Ontario and Nunavut)
Quebec City (responsible for Quebec)
Halifax (responsible for New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador)

The Research Security Centre supports the protection of Canada's research through three areas of focus:

Implementation of the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships and provision of advice about the Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC): The Centre leads the national security review process and brings together national security and technical expertise to ensure that the advice provided to inform granting councils' funding decisions is comprehensive and keeps pace with evolving threats.
Support research community through a network of Regional Advisors: The Centre provides advice and guidance to academic institutions and researchers through its Safeguarding Science program. By actively engaging with stakeholders—including provinces and territories—and promoting informed, security-conscious practices, the Centre raises awareness of security risks and offers practical tools to help address them. In addition, the Centre collaborates with other federal departments to develop new training modules that build on the foundation of the standard Safeguarding Science curriculum.
Access to existing Government of Canada's resources: The Centre helps research community take advantage of Government of Canada's research security expertise.

Together with universities and researchers across Canada, regardless of the academic discipline, the Research Security Centre work to build a strong research security culture that, continues to value openness and academic freedom while protecting Canada's world-class research from illicit transfers of knowledge, threat actors, and significant security risks. We recognize the research community often encounters these legitimate situations, underscoring the importance of awareness and proactive risk management.