Laws to counter foreign interference

Canada's most recent legislation on foreign interference, an Act respecting countering foreign interference, strengthens Canada's ability to detect, disrupt and counter foreign interference threats through a series of new measures and legislative amendments to national security and criminal laws.

Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act

The Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act (FITAA) establishes an independent commissioner and a foreign influence transparency registry (registry).

Commissioner's Role

The Commissioner and their office, the Foreign Influence Transparency Commissioner's Office (FITCO), will help Canadian government processes remain transparent and protect democratic institutions. They will do this by making sure people are transparent and honest when they try to influence Canadian politics for another country.

The Commissioner has four key roles:

Create and manage the public registry
- people must share information if they are working for a foreign country to influence Canadian politics.
Talk to the public
- clearly explain who needs to register and what information they must share.
Make sure people are compliant with the law
- provide guidance to potential registrants
- enforce the act when needed, including
  - publishing notices of violations
  - issuing fines, and
  - making referrals to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC)
Write a yearly report
- highlighting key activities and trends to the Minister of Public Safety

Foreign influence transparency registry

The registration requirements and foreign influence transparency registry are not yet in effect pending the Coming into Force of the Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act.

Once established, the registry will list people and groups that work with a foreign principal to influence political or governmental processes in Canada in a transparent way.

Registration conditions

Registration will be required when all three of the following conditions exist:

A foreign principal

There is an agreement that a person or group will take direction from or work together with a foreign principal.

A foreign principal includes a:

foreign power
foreign state
foreign entity, or
foreign economic entity, like a state-owned business

Activities

The activities of the person or group requires that they:

communicate with a public official
pay money, give gifts, provide services or allow the use of a space, or
share or publish information to the public by any means, including social media

Subject of the activity

The activities of the person or group involves politics or government activities at any level of government in Canada, including:

writing or changing laws
an election or referendum
influencing policy decisions or awarding of government contracts
the nomination of a candidate or developing a political party platform
activities in Canada's parliament, provincial legislatures, city or town councils, or Indigenous governing bodies

Who must report

When all three of the conditions above are met, the person or group must report to the Commissioner, who will include their information in the registry.
Certain people do not need to report to the Commissioner, for example:

foreign nationals who hold a passport with valid diplomatic, consular, official or special representative acceptance issued by Global Affairs Canada
foreign government employees acting openly in their official capacity
employees of a foreign principal, like a foreign state-owned company, acting openly in their official capacity

Work to launch the registry is ongoing.

Investigation and compliance

If a person or group that needs to report to the Commissioner:

does not register their arrangements or activities
does not update their information, or
lies to the Commissioner

The Commissioner and their office will conduct compliance investigations using tools available to them under the law. Enforcement tools will include the issuance of a Notice of Violation, which could include an administrative monetary penalty. Recipients can dispute the notice and can apply for a judicial review of the Commissioner's decision by the Federal Court of Canada.

In serious cases, or where a person tries to block the Commissioner or their staff from doing their work, the Commissioner can refer the case to the RCMP and to PPSC.

Changes to the Security of Information Act

The Security of Information Act (SOIA) has been renamed to the Foreign Interference and Security of Information Act (FISIA). It criminalizes conduct that may be harmful to Canada, such as spying, economic espionage and foreign-influenced threats or violence.

The FISIA has been amended to:

create new crimes to address foreign interference risks to Canada and to ensure that hostile activities are fully addressed by the criminal law, including those involving:
- deceptive or secret acts that undermine democratic processes, including foreign interference in nomination contests and federal, provincial, territorial, municipal and Indigenous governments or democratic processes. For example, surreptitiously influencing the nomination of a candidate
- deceptive or surreptitious acts that harm Canadian interests, such as knowingly helping a foreign agent pose as a tourist to enter Canada, and
- indictable offences committed when directed by, for the benefit of, or in association with a foreign entity
better address threats or violence by those who work on behalf of foreign entities (section 20) to intimidate people living in Canada, including members of diaspora communities who may be uniquely vulnerable to these threats, and their families abroad. For example, a foreign government, or someone acting on their behalf, approaching someone in Canada and threatening their family outside of Canada in order to coerce the individual in Canada to silence their dissent
expand the preparatory acts offence (section 22), which targets doing anything to prepare ahead of committing an offence (such as espionage), to cover more FISIA offences and the new foreign interference offences, and enhancing the existing penalties
amend the definition of "special operational information" to address the inappropriate sharing of military technology and knowledge; and
amend the definitions of person permanently bound to secrecy and allowing Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) units to be added to the FISIA schedule, so that CAF groups can be permanently bound to secrecy

Changes to the now-FISIA took effect on August 19, 2024.

Modernizing the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act

An Act respecting countering foreign interference has also made targeted amendments to modernize the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Act. This better equips the Government of Canada to build resilience and to counter the modern threats Canada faces today, including foreign interference.

To ensure the safety, security, and prosperity of Canada, CSIS must be able to:

Equip national security partners:

This legislation enables broader disclosure of CSIS information to key partners beyond the Government of Canada, with appropriate safeguards, to help partners build resiliency to threats.

Operate in a digital world:

This legislation increases CSIS' ability to be more agile and effective in its investigations, by introducing new warrants for specific investigative techniques
It also enhances CSIS' capacity to collect and use datasets
It amended Section 16 of the CSIS Act to allow CSIS to collect foreign intelligence from within Canada, even if the data is located outside Canada, as long as the intelligence pertains to foreign individuals or states operating in Canada

Respond to evolving threats:

This legislation requires Parliament to review the CSIS Act every five years to ensure that it keeps pace with advances in technology and data, as well as other evolutions in the national security space.

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