Summary of the 2017-18 Evaluation of the Major International Event Security Cost Framework

About the program

Since 1999, security demands associated with hosting Major International Events (MIEs) have increased substantially due to large-scale mobilized protests targeting these events as well as the rise in global terrorism.
Recognizing that local jurisdictions should not have to shoulder incremental security costs incurred by federally-hosted MIEs, the Federal Government established the Major International Event Security Cost Framework (the Framework) in June 2001.
The Framework is a contribution program that provides financial relief to host jurisdictions for incremental, extraordinary, reasonable and justifiable policy and security-related costs incurred in support of RCMP-led security operations for MIEs.
Since its inception, the Framework has provided financial assistance to 12 MIEs, in the amount of approximately $260M.

The evaluation assessed the relevance of the Framework; its conformance with the Treasury Board Policy on Transfer Payments; the clarity of partners' roles and responsibilities; the extent to which 2014 revisions to the program's policy and Terms and Conditions have met their intended objectives; and the extent to which the current performance measures are relevant for decision making.
The evaluation covered the time period from 2013-14 to 2016-17.
The 2016 North American Leaders Summit (NALS) was the only MIE that qualified under the Framework during the time period under review.

The threats necessitating this policy persist in today's global context as does Canada's commitment to hosting MIEs, such as the 2018 G7 Summit. The Framework is aligned with the priorities and roles and responsibilities of PS and the Federal Government.
The Framework provides a clearly structured mechanism for the reimbursement of security costs to local jurisdictions and has sufficient challenge functions to provide oversight. However, applicability of the Framework is limited due to the criteria used to determine eligibility for those events not already pre-designated under the program.
Multiple factors affect MIE costs, including the lead time between the official announcement and the event date, location and required security measures. For the 2016 NALS, personnel, operations and maintenance were the main cost drivers.
Eligible expenses as detailed in the Terms and Conditions lacked flexibility to address security cost requirements for current and future events.
Although the Framework had appropriate performance measures in place, consistent data collection, analysis and reporting were not conducted.

The Assistant Deputy Minister of the Community Safety and Countering Crime Branch should:

Review existing event designation criteria to ensure flexibility to meet and validate the overall objectives of the Framework.
Reassess the eligible cost criteria to ensure that they are sensitive to risk and strike an appropriate balance between control and flexibility in order to support jurisdictions in hosting MIEs.
Ensure that performance information is collected and reported on to support timely and evidence-based decision making.