Statecraft

Does Canada need its own CIA or MI6?

But Canada is the only G7 country without a dedicated domestic and a dedicated foreign intelligence agency, Wilner said.

“The British have the MI5 and the MI6 – first doing domestic and the second doing foreign [intelligence] – the U.S. has FBI and CIA, the French have the DCRI (General Directorate for Internal Security) and the DGSE (General Directorate for External Security),” Wilner said.

“So Canada is kind of unique in the sense that we do have a very robust and a very successful intelligence apparatus through CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service), CSE (Communications Security Establishment) and units at Privy Council and Foreign Affairs, but we don’t have one agency dedicated solely for the collection of foreign intelligence.”

However, Canada does collect foreign intelligence through CSIS and CSE. CSIS is allowed under Section 12 of its act to pursue foreign intelligence in investigative capacity, which means it does collect intelligence for national security purposes in foreign countries when it’s deemed necessary for the protection of national security interests of Canada, Wilner said.