Security Clearance Levels

Security clearance levels are the graded screening levels that determine whether an individual or an organization may access protected or classified information, assets, worksites, or contract-related material. The higher the level, the greater the protection the information or asset requires and the more screening the person or organization must complete.

In Canadian federal procurement, the levels for personnel are Reliability Status, Enhanced Reliability Status, Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret. Organizations are screened separately, through Designated Organization Screening (DOS) and Facility Security Clearance (FSC). NATO uses its own set of classifications for the information it protects.

Canadian personnel screening levels

Public Services and Procurement Canada sets out five levels of personnel screening: Reliability Status, Enhanced Reliability Status, Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret. Which level an employee needs depends on the information and assets the contract requires them to handle. The full list is on the levels of security page.

Canadian terminology also classifies the information and assets themselves: Protected A, B and C, along with Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret. Personnel screening and information classification are related but separate. A clearance belongs to a person, while a classification belongs to the information or asset.

Organizational screening: DOS and FSC

Organizations are screened as well as individuals. The two organizational screenings are Designated Organization Screening and Facility Security Clearance. When documents or other assets must be safeguarded at the contractor's premises, the facility must receive the required organizational screening before work begins. The Contract Security Program explains the process on its organization security screening page.

NATO security classifications

NATO classifies its information in four levels: COSMIC TOP SECRET, NATO SECRET, NATO CONFIDENTIAL, and NATO RESTRICTED. Each classification signals the protection the information requires, in proportion to the damage that unauthorized access or disclosure could cause. NATO or national personnel who handle NATO Confidential information or above must hold an appropriate clearance issued through the relevant national security authority or designated security authority. The classifications are set out in NATO's security classifications record.

How the SRCL and the Contract Security Program apply

The Contract Security Program (CSP) of Public Services and Procurement Canada screens organizations and personnel for solicitations and contracts that contain security requirements. Federal departments identify those requirements, and the CSP carries out the screening. The details are on the security screening for government contracts page.

The requirements are documented in a Security Requirements Check List (SRCL), which is included as an annex to the solicitation. The solicitation must state the applicable security requirements and the deadlines for meeting them. Clearances can be required for offerors and personnel who attend conferences or site visits, or who access protected or classified information during the bidding stage. See the CanadaBuys guidance on security requirements in solicitations.

Buyers have their own checks. They must verify an offeror's security status through the CSP before awarding a contract, as the award guidance states. For standing offers and supply arrangements, buyers must make sure the required security levels are met before they issue call-ups and contracts.

What it means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

• Read the SRCL annex first. It states the screening your organization and your people need.
• Obtain and maintain the screening the solicitation specifies, and make sure personnel hold the necessary screening and a need-to-know.
• Arrange facility or document-safeguarding requirements before work starts if assets will be held at your premises.
• On professional-services methods of supply, you may need to hold the required security at bid closing. The contracting authority still validates the supplier and proposed resources before award, as PSPC guidance on security clearance changes explains.

Suppliers new to the process can start with the CSP's information toolkit for suppliers.