Intelligence Commissioner's 2024 Annual Report tabled in Parliament

OTTAWA, ON, June 16, 2025 /CNW/ - The 2024 Annual Report of the Intelligence Commissioner – the Honourable Simon Noël, K.C. – has been tabled in Parliament.

The Intelligence Commissioner's (IC) independent oversight mandate is to approve – or not approve – certain national security and intelligence activities planned by the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) which are authorized by their respective ministers or the Director of CSIS.

The 2024 Annual Report highlights several key developments that showcase the evolving role of the IC in strengthening governance and responsiveness:

• Enabling a rapid response to emerging cyber incidents: The IC adopted a novel approach when non-federal entities designated as important to the Government of Canada faced emerging cyber threats. After careful review, recognizing the urgent need for the entities to receive CSE's assistance and to avoid any delay, the IC approved the ministerial authorization within one day of its reception, subsequently issuing his required full reasons in accordance with the legislated timeframe. (Decision CSE-2024-05)
• Strengthening ministerial accountability through information sharing: By ensuring the completeness and accuracy of information provided to ministers, the IC's decisions help break down information silos and support better decision-making. (Decision CSE-2024-02)
• Ensuring compliance and accountability: The IC insists on prompt notification of any failures to comply with authorized activities and on swift corrective action to mitigate any impact on privacy interests or the rule of law. 2024 saw a notable first in this regard: a condition was imposed on a foreign dataset authorization due to an incomplete record related to a prior compliance incident. (Decision CSIS-2024-05)

"As Intelligence Commissioner, I make my decisions on behalf of Canadians and persons in Canada. My 2024 report shows how my oversight role continues to evolve to strengthen the governance of national security and intelligence activities in Canada."

-          The Honourable Simon Noël, K.C., Intelligence Commissioner

The annual report is available on the Office of the Intelligence Commissioner's website: https://www.canada.ca/en/intelligence-commissioner/decisions.html

Quick facts

• The activities requiring approval from the IC are critical to national security, including cybersecurity, and foreign intelligence collection. These activities may involve actions that could break Canadian laws or impact the privacy interests of Canadians and persons in Canada. The IC reviews the ministerial conclusions in the authorization to determine whether they meet the test of "reasonableness" as recognized by Canadian courts. If so, the IC approves the ministerial authorization, and the agency can proceed with the planned activities.
• In 2024, the IC received 13 ministerial authorizations for review – 7 relating to CSE activities and 6 relating to CSIS activities. He approved the activities in 11 authorizations, approved the activities with conditions in 1 authorization, and partially approved the activities in 1 authorization.
• The IC's 2024 decisions included 31 remarks – comments or observations that reflect legal or factual issues of concern raised in the authorization, but that do not impact the IC's reasonableness review. Remarks are made to improve the content of future authorizations or to highlight an issue for consideration by CSE or CSIS.
• The IC's decisions are published on the website of the Office of the Intelligence Commissioner: https://www.canada.ca/en/intelligence-commissioner/decisions.html. 

SOURCE Office of the Intelligence Commissioner

Justin Dubois, Executive Director and General Counsel, Office of the Intelligence Commissioner, [email protected]