Assessment of the applications

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Assessment of the applications by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and/or the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

For an application to be referred to the Public Safety Minister for further assessment, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and/or the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship must be satisfied that the application:

  • Meets any requirements set out in regulations;
  • Covers activities that will occur in a geographic area controlled by a terrorist group and align with the purposes specified under the regime;
  • Covers activities that respond to a real and important need in the geographic area; and
  • Is made by an applicant capable of administering funds in circumstances involving terrorist groups, and reporting on that administration in a transparent and accountable manner.

This information will be assessed using the information provided in the application form. The appropriate department may reach out for additional information or clarification, in order to complete the above assessments.

Referral to the Public Safety Minister or refusal of an application

Applicants will be notified whether their applications are refused or referred by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and/or the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to the Public Safety Minister for further assessment and decision.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship may refuse an application on the grounds that it does not meet eligibility and assessment criteria, and/or the conditions of referral as laid out in subsection 83.032(6). In such cases, the application would not be referred to the Public Safety Minister for further review and assessment and the applicant would receive notice within a reasonable time of the decision to refuse the application.

An applicant is not shielded from criminal liability for conducting activities until the application process is completed and they have been granted an authorization. Note that where a request is refused, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and/or the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship will issue a refusal notice to inform applicants of the decision.

Security assessment

After receiving a referral from the Minister of Foreign Affairs and/or the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, the Public Safety Minister may request the appropriate entities to conduct a mandatory security review to assess the impact of granting the authorization on terrorism financing and other security considerations before making a decision whether to grant an authorization.

The security assessment will gauge, among other factors:

  • Whether the applicant or any persons involved with the proposed activity have any links to terrorist groups;
  • The likelihood that the applicant or any persons involved in the proposed activity, will be acting on behalf of, for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with, a terrorist group in carrying out the activity; and
  • Whether the applicant or any persons involved in carrying out the proposed activity is being or has been investigated for having committed a terrorism offence, or has ever been charged with a terrorism offence.

The intent of the security assessment is to objectively determine the impact of granting the authorization on terrorist financing. The assessment will be based on factual information and will consider the context of the activities and the complex realities of the operating environment. The likelihood that the applicant is acting in association with, or at the direction of, a terrorist group, other than as needed to carry out activities that fall within the purposes under the regime while mitigating the risks of terrorist financing, will be assessed. This approach includes the potential for the Public Safety Minister to impose mitigation measures or conditions where risks are identified, rather than to issue a refusal.  

Indicators will be identified for the assessment of the risk of terrorist financing that  organizations may face. These may include: the general terrorism and terrorist financing threat environment; the prevalence of domestic intelligence on the terrorist financing threat posed to the organization; and, credible open source information on links between the domestic organization and terrorist individuals or organizations.

Indicators by themselves may not always be indicative of suspected financial or criminal activity but taken together with other indicators and other factors may compound concerns relating to terrorism financing; or may give rise to the need for further monitoring and due diligence measures by the Public Safety Minister. Indicators point to the possibility of specific activities occurring: the more indicators of an activity, the greater the likelihood of its occurrence.

The Public Safety Minister may request that the applicant provide additional information within a specified period. The application may be deemed to be withdrawn if the applicant fails to do so without reasonable explanation.

Where there is a decision to refuse an application at this stage, the decision will be based on facts established through the security review process. The unsuccessful applicant can take steps following the refusal of an application (see Section 4.6 Refusal of an Application).

To request an update on the status of your application please contact authorization83.03autorisation@ps-sp.gc.ca.

Decision by the Minister of Public Safety and delivery of authorization to the applicant

Once the assessment is completed, applicants will be notified whether an authorization will be granted or refused.

The Minister of Public Safety may decide to grant an authorization if they are satisfied that:

  • There is no practical way of carrying out the proposed activity without creating a risk of terrorism financing; and
  • The benefits of the proposed activity outweigh that risk.
  • The risk / benefit assessment will consider:
    • The referral of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and/or the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship on the need for the proposed activity in the specified region, and the capability of the applicant to manage funds in circumstances involving terrorist groups, amongst other things;
    • The security review findings;
    • Any measures to mitigate risk and any other terms and conditions that may be included in the authorization; and
    • Any other factors considered appropriate.

An authorization will be valid for a period of up to five years. The period of validity will be specified in the authorization.

The Statutory Instruments Act does not apply to an authorization and the authorizations will not be made public.

An authorization applies, in addition to the individual(s) or organization(s) named in it, to any other person involved in carrying out an activity on behalf of that individual or organization and in accordance with the authorization. An authorization does not compel any party, including the financial institutions involved in processing a transaction, to take any action. It confirms, solely, that those organizations and individuals to whom the authorization applies, are shielded from potential criminal liability should they, when providing the assistance, otherwise violate subsection 83.03(2) of the Criminal Code. An authorization also does not absolve recipients from performing sufficient due diligence as required by domestic and international obligations.

Refusal of an application

If an application for an authorization is refused, the Public Safety Minister will inform the applicant and give reasons for refusing the application. The Public Safety Minister may refuse an application for the following reasons:

  • The proposed activities do not satisfy the criteria for application;
  • National security grounds;
  • Other factors the minister considers appropriate in the circumstances.

If an application for an authorization is refused by the Public Safety Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, or the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, an applicant has the following options:

  • Re-apply after 30 days from the date of the decision with any new or supplementary information;
  • Re-apply before the 30 days if the minister who gave the notice of refusal is satisfied there has been a material change in circumstance:
    • If the Minister of Foreign Affairs or the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship issued a refusal, the applicant would need to demonstrate that they have additional information that can fulfil the criteria that was noted in the refusal letter as not being met;
    • If the Public Safety Minister issued a refusal, and is satisfied there has been a material change of circumstance, they may process the new application based on the previous referral given by the Minister of Foreign Affairs or the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship; and/or
  • Seek to challenge the decision in The Federal Court of Canada.
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