Parliamentary Committee Notes: Research Security Summary
Background
Since 2016, Public Safety has been leading the Safeguarding Science Initiative to provide targeted workshops to Canadian universities and the broader research community to equip them with the knowledge and tools required to protect their research including providing virtual workshops during the pandemic.
The Government of Canada has continued to make several announcements since September 2020 as a response to the threats emanating from the pandemic in addition to the current threat environment to help enhance research security measures.
In July 2021, in response to this continued concern, the Government of Canada, in collaboration with universities, and associations that represent academic institutions, developed and published the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships (Guidelines). The intention of the Guidelines is to integrate national security considerations into the development, evaluation, and funding of research partnerships with private sector entities.
To help with the implementation of the Guidelines, Budget 2022 announced $159.6 million, starting in 2022-23, and $33.4 million ongoing to build capacity within post-secondary institutions as well as to enhance Canada’s ability to protect Canadian research. As part of this announcement, Public Safety was allotted $12.6 million over 5 years and $2.9 million ongoing to establish the Research Security Centre mandated to provide guidance and assistance to universities on how to protect their research. Other federal departments such as Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Communications Security Establishment (CSE) and Global Affairs Canada (GAC) also received funding to implement the Guidelines.
Over the last year, PS have worked in establishing the Centre which consists of 12 full-time employees in two separate teams. The first team is based in Ottawa and is responsible for tools development and the implementation of the Guidelines, including overseeing the National Security Review Process on applications sent by research funding organizations. The second team consists of 6 regional advisors responsible for supporting researchers, academic institutions, and provincial governments on research security matters strategically located throughout the country. The regional advisors act as an external stakeholder’s first point of contact into the Government of Canada for any inquiries relating to research security.
The integration of national security considerations into the development, evaluation, and funding of research partnerships is achieved by conducting a risk assessment. Applicants first identify and assess risks that their research partnership may pose to Canada’s national security by completing a form when applying for federal funding. The information provided by the applicants is used to determine whether a further assessment by national security agencies is needed for the application. Public Safety, through the Research Security Centre (the Centre), is leading the National Security Review Process, bringing together a breadth of national security and technical expertise to ensure comprehensive advice is provided to the research funding organizations to inform their funding decisions.
To pilot the integration of national security considerations into the development, evaluation and funding of research partnerships, the Guidelines were applied on a mandatory basis in the first phase to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s (NSERC) Alliance Grants program, recognizing that this program funds sensitive research areas that may carry higher security risks. The pilot phase completed in January 2023.
To date, applications continue to be assessed under the Guidelines for this program and are referred to Public Safety as required for further assessment.
On February 14, 2023, the Ministers of Innovation, Science and Industry, Public Safety, and Health announced a new policy prohibiting federal funding to researchers working in sensitive technology areas who are also affiliated with a university, research institute or laboratory connected to military, national defence, or state security entities of foreign state actors that pose a risk to Canada’s national security. This new policy, called the policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC), would apply to Canada’s main research funding councils – the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, as well as the Canada Foundation for Innovation.
Since then, Public Safety through the Research Security Centre has collaborated with Innovation, Science, and Economic Development (ISED), Global Affairs Canada (GAC), the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and NSERC to develop policy tools needed to operationalise this new policy. More precisely, Public Safety was tasked with developing a methodology to build a list of research organizations that are connected to military, national defence or state security entities of foreign state actors with which researchers should not be affiliated to, in addition to a list of sensitive technology research areas.
Current situation
The Centre is fully operational with an expected official launch date in fall 2023, with an accompanying website to establish its web presence. Regional advisors are actively establishing relationships with university administrators and provincial government partners to learn about their needs. This exercise is also feeding into the effort to update and customize the Safeguarding Science initiative.
As the Centre continues to unfold, Public Safety, Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada (ISED), and other partners are seeking to expand the application of the Guidelines to other federal grant programs over the next two fiscal years. The Canada Biomedical Research Fund/Biosciences Research Infrastructure Fund, co-administered by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Canada Foundation for Innovation, recently entered the program this fall. Through this program, Public Safety received a dozen applications for a national security review.
Early this past September, the Minister of Public Safety approved the methodology used to support the development of the list of Named Research Organizations (NRO). The methodology was used to determine if a research organization is sufficiently connected to a hostile state security apparatus. Public Safety developed this methodology and built the NRO in response to the February 14th Statement and to implement the new STRAC polciy. As the STRAC policy announcement is imminent, all communications materials are in the process of being finalised, including the Named Research Organizations list.
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