Watchdog raps intelligence service over lack of reporting on possibly illegal acts

OTTAWA — The Canadian Security Intelligence Service may have run afoul of the law when it didn’t fully inform the public safety minister of potentially illegal conduct by CSIS employees, including possible Charter violations, says a newly released watchdog report.

The National Security and Intelligence Review Agency report, which covers 2024, says reporting unlawful conduct to the minister is a fundamental accountability measure in the CSIS Act, the legislation governing the spy service.

The CSIS Act states that if the service’s director believes an employee may have broken the law while performing their duties, the director must report that incident to the minister.

The watchdog says CSIS has consistently interpreted this responsibility as a requirement for the director to report only those incidents that could amount to a prosecutable offence.

The CSIS Act also requires the director to submit an annual report to the minister with respect to the spy service’s operational activities, and to provide a copy to the intelligence review agency.

Although CSIS does include a list of unlawful activity in an appendix in the annual report, “this listing does not provide sufficient detail to allow the minister to understand the context of the unlawful activity or to assess its severity,” the review agency says.

The CSIS director’s 2023-24 annual report included a list of 22 instances of non-compliance with the Charter, the review agency notes.

The watchdog report says that while the review agency expected to see all instances of potentially unlawful conduct, including Charter violations, reported to the minister, “none have been reported.”

“NSIRA considers that this may constitute a non-compliance with the law,” the report says.

The review agency adds that its “concerns about CSIS’s approach to this reporting requirement are longstanding.”

CSIS had no immediate comment Thursday on the review agency’s findings.

The agency notes that in 2025, CSIS approved a memorandum endorsing a broader interpretation of the reporting requirements in the legislation.

The new interpretation requires CSIS to report operational activities that violate Charter rights or lack statutory authority, regardless of whether the activities constitute a prosecutable offence.

The watchdog says it expects to see implementation of the required reporting and will continue to monitor the issue.

The intelligence review agency also found the CSIS director’s annual report did not explicitly and adequately reflect the extent of the legal issues facing the spy service and the steps being taken to deal with them.

“Absent a dedicated section, such legal issues and efforts to address them risk not being given the prominence they merit,” the review agency’s report says.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 28, 2026.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press