Raison d’être, Mandate and Role: Who We Are and What We Do

Raison d'être

The Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (PSEP), also known as Public Safety Canada, plays a key role in discharging the Government's fundamental responsibility for the safety and security of its citizens. The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness is responsible for the Department.

The Department provides strategic policy advice and support to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, and the Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction on a range of issues including: national security, community safety and emergency management. The Department also delivers a number of grant and contribution programs related to these issues.

Mandate and Role

Public Safety Canada was created in 2003 to ensure coordination across all federal departments and agencies responsible for national security and the safety of Canadians. Public Safety Canada maintains a presence in all provinces with offices representing the five regions (Atlantic, Québec and Nunavut, Ontario, the Prairies and Northwest Territories, and British Columbia and Yukon).

The Department's mandate is to keep Canada safe from a range of risks such as natural disasters, crime and terrorism. As such, Public Safety Canada collaborates with federal partners as well as other levels of government, non-government organizations, community groups, the private sector, foreign states, academia, communities and first responders on issues related to national and border security, crime prevention, community safety and emergency management. This cooperation supports a cohesive and integrated approach to Canada's safety and security.

Public Safety Canada is organized into five branches: Emergency Management and Programs, Community Safety and Countering Crime, Portfolio Affairs and Communications, National and Cyber Security, and Corporate Management; it also has a Chief Audit and Evaluation Executive and is supported by a Legal Services Unit. The Department has a regional presence in all provinces, as well as in the North, in order to deliver a coordinated federal response to emergencies; facilitate the effective delivery of emergency management, Indigenous policing and crime prevention programs; and improve partnerships with other levels of government and key regional stakeholders.

The commitments outlined in the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness' mandate letter are as follows:

• Assist the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons in the creation of a statutory committee of Parliamentarians with special access to classified information to review government departments and agencies with national security responsibilities.
• Work to repeal, in collaboration with the Minister of Justice, the problematic elements of Bill C-51 and introduce new legislation that strengthens accountability with respect to national security and better balances collective security with rights and freedoms. 
• Create an Office of the Community Outreach and Counter-radicalization Coordinator.
• Lead a review of existing measures to protect Canadians and our critical infrastructure from cyber-threats, in collaboration with the Minister of National Defence, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, and the President of the Treasury Board.
• Take action to get handguns and assault weapons off our streets by working with the Minister of Justice to strengthen controls on hand-guns and assault weapons, including by repealing some elements of Bill C-42.
• Enhance compensation benefits for public safety officers who are permanently disabled or killed in the line of duty, including the creation of a compensation benefit for firefighters, police officers, and paramedics.
• Work with provinces and territories and the Minister of Health to develop a coordinated national action plan on post-traumatic stress disorder, which disproportionately affects public safety officers.
• Restore funding to provinces and territories to support Heavy Urban Search and Rescue teams.
• Work with provinces and territories, Indigenous Peoples, and municipalities to develop a comprehensive action plan that allows Canada to better predict, prepare for, and respond to weather-related emergencies and natural disasters.
• Support the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Health on efforts that will lead to the legalization and regulation of marijuana.
• Work with the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs to address gaps in services to Indigenous Peoples and those with mental illness throughout the criminal justice system.
• Take action to ensure that the RCMP and all other parts of your portfolio are workplaces free from harassment and sexual violence.

For more information on the department's organizational mandate letter commitments see the Minister's mandate letter.

Date modified:

2019-02-28