Security Intelligence Background Section – Law Enforcement Record Checks

Description

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Security Intelligence Background Section (SIBS) provides Law Enforcement Record Checks (LERCs) for Government of Canada departments, agencies and federally regulated programs in support of their security screening processes.

As part of the security screening process, the LERC serves as a background check component. With the individual’s consent, biographical information is verified against law enforcement databases to confirm whether the individual has any criminal convictions, assess involvement or associations with criminal organizations or criminal activity and identify potential vulnerabilities or high-risk behaviours. The LERC helps departments make informed decisions about granting, denying or revoking a security clearance.

SIBS is modernizing their information technology infrastructure and processes to enhance efficiency and streamline operations, enabling it to meet the growing demand for services more effectively.

Why a privacy impact assessment was completed

The purpose of the Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is to ensure that the RCMP fulfills its legal obligations under the Privacy Act and the Directive on Privacy Practices. These obligations include assessing the privacy implications of any substantial modifications to an existing program that uses personal information to make decisions about individuals. In addition, the Directive requires programs to complete a privacy assessment when creating a program-level Personal Information Bank (PIB), which describes how the personal information is collected, used, disclosed and managed by the program.

Additional information

The privacy issues identified in the PIA process were assessed as low-risk and are currently being addressed by the RCMP. Existing mitigation measures are expected to maintain an overall consistently low and acceptable level of risk for the program. Below is a summary of the risks and mitigations identified in the PIA.

Accountability

The program provides dedicated onboarding for new employees, which includes a privacy-focused component. In addition, the program is committed to participating in privacy-related presentations delivered by RCMP ATIP, specifically tailored to the RCMP and law enforcement context. Employees will also be informed of the RCMP-specific ATIP course available to them.

Safeguarding

The program is actively developing and updating standard operating procedures and policies to support implementation of new systems and processes. It is also engaging with client departments to ensure agreements are revised to reflect ongoing changes and enhancements to these systems and LERC application processes.

Openness and transparency

The program is currently developing a program-level PIB that will detail how personal information is collected, used, disclosed and managed when processing LERC applications. Once finalized, this PIB will be publicly available on the RCMP website.

Good governance

The program is collaborating with RCMP’s Information Management Branch to establish a program-specific classification in the RCMP’s administrative files index. This classification will define how long records should be kept and outline when they should be archived. Additionally, the program is committed to ongoing collaboration with ATIP for all future initiatives that may impact privacy.

Related personal information banks

RCMP PPU 204 - Security Intelligence Background Section (Pending TBS Approval)

For more information about this privacy impact assessment

Contact the RCMP Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) - Privacy Management Division at atippolicy_politiqueaiprp@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

Date modified:: 2025-12-08

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