Watchdog finds problems with spy service’s use of legal authority to commit offences
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OTTAWA – The Canadian Security Intelligence Service may not have complied with the law when using special powers to gather information, a review by the national spy watchdog has found.
The CSIS Act allows designated spy service employees to commit certain offences when collecting information — a measure intended to ensure CSIS operations do not break the law.
A newly released National Security and Intelligence Review Agency report notes there are limitations and requirements tied to this authority to ensure legal curbs on CSIS activities.
For instance, the authority does not permit CSIS to wilfully obstruct justice, infringe on a Charter right or detain, torture or kill a person.
Employees committing offences or directing sources to do so must spell out why they believe the actions are reasonable and proportional in the circumstances.
The intelligence review agency looked at CSIS’s use of the authority in operations in 2022 and 2023.
The review agency found some CSIS employees may have committed offences without the required designation, and that direction may have been given to commit some acts without the authorization required by law.
The report also says CSIS sometimes failed to adequately document the justifications for offences. In addition, it says, some required internal reporting and notifications to the review agency were not done.
The spy watchdog says CSIS has a duty to ensure all of its operations respect the law, especially when those operations require activity that would otherwise be considered illegal.
CSIS had no immediate comment on the report.
The Ottawa-based International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group called the findings “deeply disturbing.
“Once again, we see a case where CSIS pushes the boundaries of the law and fails to abide by the rules and regulations meant to instil confidence that they can be trusted with such sensitive powers in the first place,” the group said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2026.