CSEwordmark | |
Edward Drake Building, CSE headquarters | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1946 |
| Preceding agency |
|
| Type | government agency responsible for
|
| Headquarters | Ottawa,Ontario,Canada |
| Employees | 3,841 (2024-25)[2] |
| Annual budget | $1,041.7 million (2024–25)[3] |
| Minister responsible | |
| Agency executive |
|
| Child agencies | |
| Key document |
|
| Website | www |
TheCommunications Security Establishment (CSE;French:Centre de la sécurité des télécommunications,CST) isCanada's nationalcryptologicintelligence andsecurity agency. It is responsible for foreignsignals intelligence, conductingcyber operations,cyber security andinformation assurance, and providing technical and operational assistance to themilitary, federal law enforcement, and other security agencies.[4][5]
CSE is a standalone agency under theNational Defence portfolio. The current head of CSE, the Chief, isCaroline Xavier, who assumed the office on 31 August 2022. The Chief is accountable to theMinister of National Defence. The National Defence Minister is in turn accountable to theCabinet andParliament.[6][7]
CSE originates from Canada's joint military and civiliancode-breaking and intelligence efforts during theSecond World War.[8]
TheExamination Unit (XU) was established in June 1941, as a branch of theNational Research Council.[9]
In March 1942, XU moved toLaurier House inSandy Hill, Ottawa.[10] This location was chosen because they felt it would draw no suspicion from adversaries.[11] In September, theDepartment of External Affairs established its Special Intelligence Section at XU with the purpose of reviewing decoded SIGINT with other collateral information to produceintelligence summaries.[10]
The original mandate of the Examination Unit duringWorld War II was to intercept thecommunications ofVichy France andNazi Germany. Its mandate later expanded to include interception and decryption ofImperial Japanese communications afterJapan entered the war. The unit was estimated to have had 50 staff members at any one time. In total 77 people worked there.[11]
In September 1945,U.S. PresidentHarry Truman declared it would be vital to carry out such operations in peacetime, and Canadian authorities came to the same conclusion in December later that year.[9][12]
On 13 April 1946, a secretOrder in Council allowed for postwar continuation of wartime cryptologic efforts and thus the Communications Branch of the National Research Council of Canada (CBNRC) was founded. This agency would be the predecessor to today's Communications Security Establishment (CSE).[9][10][12]
The Communications Branch of the National Research Council (CBNRC) was the firstpeace-timecryptologic agency and was kept secret for much of its beginning.[8] The CBNRC was established through a secretOrder in Council signed on 13 April 1946, combining the civilian Examination Unit (XU) and the military Joint Discrimination Unit (JDU) and was located atLaSalle Academy.[9]
With Edward Drake as its first director, the agency worked with intercepted foreignelectronic communications, collected largely from theRoyal Canadian Signal Corps (RCCS) station atRockcliffe Airport in Ottawa. CSE also worked withCanadian Forces Station Leitrim (CFS Leitrim; formerly 1 Special Wireless Station till 1949, and Ottawa Wireless Station till 1966), Canada's oldest operationalsignal intelligence (SIGINT) collection station, established by the RCCS in 1941 and located just south of Ottawa. In 1946, the station's complement was 75 personnel (compared to its around 2,000 employees in 2013–2014).[13] This unit successfullydecrypted, translated, and analyzed these foreign signals, and turned thatraw information into useful intelligence reports during the course of the war.
CBNRC finally began domesticCOMSEC efforts on 1 January 1947.[10] During theCold War, the CBNRC was primarily responsible for providing SIGINT data to the Department of National Defence regarding themilitary operations of theSoviet Union.[14]
In February 1950, R. S. McLaren was appointed the first CBNRC Senior Liaison Officer (CBSLO) toWashington, D.C. In March 1962: CBNRC installed its firstIBMsupercomputer, costing CA$372k. In December 1964, CBNRC began collaboration on "Canadian ALVIS" (CID 610), the first and only Canadiancipher machine to be mass-produced based on the British ALVIS (BID 610).[10]
CBNRC and the information it gathered and shared was kept secret for 34 years until 9 January 1974, whenCBC Television aired a documentary titledThe Fifth Estate: The Espionage Establishment.[15] This was the first time that the organization had ever been mentioned in public.[9] This resulted in an outcry in theHouse of Common and an admission by the Canadian government that the organization existed.[16]
In 1975, the CBNRC was transferred to theDepartment of National Defence (DND) by anOrder in Council, and became the Communications Security Establishment.[8] CSE was now publicly known, and had diversified since theCold War becoming the primarySIGINT resource in Canada.
In 1988, CSE created the Canadian System Security Centre to establish a Canadiancomputer security standard among other goals.[17] This led to the publication of theCanadian Trusted Computer Product Evaluation Criteria.[17]
Following theSeptember 11 attacks in 2001,Canada'sAnti-terrorism Act (ATA) was ratified, receivingroyal assent on 18 December 2001. It amended theNational Defence Act to formally acknowledge and mandate the activities of CSE. It also made amendments to theCanadian Security Intelligence Service Act, theCriminal Code, and theOfficial Secrets Act (later theSecurity of Information Act).[9]
In early 2008, in line with theFederal Identity Program (FIP) of the Government of Canada, which requires all federal agencies to have the wordCanada in their name,[18] CSE adopted the applied titleCommunications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC;French:Centre de la sécurité des télécommunications Canada, CSTC). Since mid-2014, the organization has used its legal name (Communications Security Establishment) and initials (CSE) on its website and in public statements.
In November 2011, CSE was made an independent agency.[9]
In June 2019, theCommunications Security Establishment Act was passed as part of anomnibus national security bill called theNational Security Act 2017. Coming into force two months later, in August, the act set out the mandate and powers of CSE.[19] As part of the omnibus bill, oversight of CSE activities was assumed by the newly createdNational Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA).[20]
In August 2021, CSE foreign signals intelligence assistedGlobal Affairs Canada and theCanadian Armed Forces with the operation toairlift Canadians out ofKabul after theTaliban retookAfghanistan.[21]
On October 11, 2023, CSE ChiefCaroline Xavier said in an interview with CBC News that CSE offices in various cities may be opened to alleviate staffing shortages.[22]
Unique within Canada's security and intelligence community, the Communications Security Establishment employs code-makers and code-breakers (cryptanalysis) to provide the Government of Canada withinformation technology security (IT Security) and foreign signals intelligence services. CSE also provides technical and operational assistance to theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police and federal law enforcement and security agencies, including theCanada Border Services Agency and theCanadian Air Transport Security Authority.
CSE works with its closest foreign intelligence allies, the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand to share the collection burden and the resulting intelligence yield.Canada is a substantial beneficiary and participant of the collaborative effort within the partnership to collect and report on foreign communications.[14]
During theCold War, CSE's primary client for signals intelligence was National Defence, and its focus was themilitary operations of the thenSoviet Union. Since the end of the Cold War, Government of Canada requirements have evolved to include a wide variety of political, defence, and security issues of interest to a much broader range of client departments.
While these continue to be key intelligence priorities for Government of Canada decision-makers, increasing focus on protecting the safety of Canadians is prompting greater interest in intelligence on transnational issues, includingterrorism.

CSE code breaking capabilities degraded substantially in the 1960s and 1970s but were upgraded with the acquisition of aCray X-MP/11 (modified) supercomputer delivered to the Sir Leonard Tilley building in March 1985 and the hiring of code breaking analysts. It was, at the time, the most powerful computer in Canada. In the early 1990s, the Establishment purchased a Floating Point Systems FPS 522-EA supercomputer at a cost of $1,620,371. This machine was upgraded to a Cray S-MP superserver after Cray acquiredFloating Point Systems in December 1991 and used the Folklore Operating System supplied by theNSA in the US.[23] These machines are now retired.Little information is available on the types of computers used by CSE since then. However, Cray in the US has produced a number of improved supercomputers since then. These include the Cray SX-6, early 2000s, theCray X1, 2003 (development funded in part by the NSA),Cray XD1, 2004, Cray XT3,Cray XT4, 2006, Cray XMt, 2006 and Cray CX1, 2008. It is possible that some of these models have been used by CSE and are in use today.
CSE’s mandate authorizes it to conduct foreigncyber operations that disrupt the capabilities of adversaries to help protect Canada and Canadians. Cyber operations conducted by CSE is broken down to defensive and active cyber operations, and must relate tointernational affairs,defence orsecurity.[24]
Defensive cyber operations authorizes CSE to defend Canadian systems against foreign cyber attacks. For instance, a cyber actor trying to steal information from a governmentnetwork could be thwarted by CSE by disabling the cyber actor'sserver. In addition to government systems, theMinister of National Defence can designate systems of importance such as:energy grids,telecom networks,healthcare databases,banking systems, elections infrastructure in order for CSE to be authorized to defend them.[24]
Active cyber operations authorizes CSE to take pre-emptive action against threats to Canada such as:terrorist groups,cyber criminals,transnational criminals,[25] hostileintelligence agencies, state-sponsoredhackers. For instance, CSE can disrupt an adversary's means of communication.[24]
CSE's mandate authorizes it to provide technical and operational assistance to federal partners including themilitary,law enforcement and otherintelligence agencies. The type of assistance itself can include: the collection and processing ofcommunications,technical solutions,linguistic support, and conducting operations.[26]
While assisting, CSE operates under the requesting agency's legal authority and restrictions. This means that CSE can, in fact, targetCanadians and individuals inCanada while operating under its assistance mandate, as long as the requesting agency has the legal authority to, such as acourt-issued warrant.[26]
| Centre Canadien pour la Cyber Sécurité | |
1625 Vanier Parkway, Cyber Centre | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Agency executive |
|
| Parent department | Communications Security Establishment |
| Website | cyber.gc.ca |
TheCanadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS orCyber Centre;French:Centre Canadien pour la Cyber Sécurité) is theGovernment of Canada authority responsible for monitoringthreats, protecting nationalcritical infrastructure against cyber incidents, and coordinating the national response to any incidents related tocyber security.
As a unit under the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), the agency is Canada'scomputer emergency response team (CSIRT) and the Canadian government's computerIncident response team (CIRT).[9]
Officially created on 1 October 2018, CCCS consolidated the existing operational cyber-security units of several federal government organizations, includingPublic Safety Canada's Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre,Shared Services Canada's Security Operations Centre, and CSE's Information Technology Security branch.[28][29]
Formerly known ascommunications security (COMSEC), CSE's Information Technology Security branch grew out of a need to protectsensitive information transmitted by various agencies of the government, especially theDepartment of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT),Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), DND, and theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).[30]
The Cyber Centre was developed in response to CSE's consultations with Canadians in 2016 which identified various issues pertaining to cyber security in relation to the federal government, including accountability, departmental coordination, and leadership. In February 2018,the federal budget allocated funds for CSE, in collaboration withPublic Safety Canada andShared Services Canada, to launch the Cyber Centre.[31]
Officially created on 1 October 2018, CCCS consolidated the existing operational cyber-security units of several federal government organizations, including the Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre of Public Safety Canada; the Security Operations Centre of Shared Services Canada; and the Information Technology Security branch of CSE.[28][29]
Prior to opening, in June 2018, MinisterRalph Goodale appointedScott Jones the head of the new Centre.[32][30]
In 2024-25, CSE reportedly used the Cyber Centre's automated defence systems to defend against a total of 2.3 trillion malicious actions. This averages to around 6.3 billion a day.[33]
| Centre de Recherche sur les Vulnérabilités | |
![]() | |
| Research division overview | |
|---|---|
| Type | research division |
| Parent department | Communications Security Establishment |
| Website | www |
TheVulnerability Research Centre (VRC;French:Centre de Recherche sur les Vulnérabilités) is part of CSE’s Research Directorate. Its focus is to advance Canada’s interests through world-class strategicvulnerability research.[34] To do so, the VRC:
The VRC augments its capabilities by partnering with universities, such as the following publicly revealed so far: theUniversity of Toronto,Ontario Tech University, andConcordia University.[25]
| Institute overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 2011[35] |
| Type | research institute |
| Jurisdiction | Canada |
| Headquarters | Edward Drake Building,Ottawa, ON |
| Institute executive |
|
| Parent department | Communications Security Establishment |
| Website | www |
TheTutte Institute for Mathematics and Computing (TIMC) is aresearch institute programme of theGovernment of Canada responsible for conducting bothclassified andunclassified research in the areas ofcryptology andknowledge discovery to support the Canadian Cryptologic Program and itsFive-Eyes international partners.[37][38]
Though officially founded in 2009, TIMC officially opened and formally named in September 2011.[38][35] Named aftercryptanalyst andmathematicianWilliam T. Tutte, TIMC is based within CSE's Edward Drake Building inOttawa.[38]
Sponsored and funded by the Communications Security Establishment, the institute is partnered withInstitute for Defence Analysis:CCR Princeton,CCR La Jolla,CCS Bowie; theHeilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research,Carleton University, and theUniversity of Calgary and is working to create partnerships with other research institutes, government agencies and universities.[39] Led by Dr. Drew Vandeth, CSE researchers proposed and established the institute. The institute's first director was Dr. Hugh Williams with Dr. Drew Vandeth as the first Deputy Director.
Researchers Leland McInnes and John Healy at the Tutte Institute developed a technique calledUniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP), originally designed to analyzemalware. The algorithm and software of UMAP has since been released by TIMC to theopen-source community, and is now being used to answer questions aboutCOVID-19.[40]
As of 2024-25, TIMC'sopen-source contributions averaged over 2.5 milliondownloads per month[25] and have been adapted toNVIDIA's RAPIDS and HypernetX[37]
CSE occupies two buildings inOttawa, the Edward Drake Building and the Cyber Centre's office at 1625 Vanier Parkway. Formerly occupying theSir Leonard Tilley Building.
With the rapid expansion in the number of CSE personnel since the9/11 attack in the US, CSE has built new facilities. A newCA$1.2 billion[41] facility, encompassing 72,000 square metres (18 acres), has been built in the eastern part of Ottawa, immediately west of the headquarters building for theCanadian Security Intelligence Service. Construction began in early 2011 and was completed in 2015.[42]
On 26 February 2015, CSE officially inaugurated their headquarters at the new Edward Drake Building, named forLt. Colonel Edward Drake, a pioneer of the Canadiansignals intelligence.[8][10]

With the launch of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security in 2018, CSE found it necessary to expand into a second location.[43]
Employees are equipped with laptops and smart phones, and work most often at an unclassified level. 1625 Vanier Parkway is also the home of the Learning Hub, which runs cyber security and communications security training for Government of Canada employees.[43]
CSE formerly occupied the Tilley Building, located at 719Heron Road starting in June 1961, before moving to the Edward Drake Building.[10]
It was designed by architect Jean-Serge Le Fort. Thefloor space covers 23,832 square metres and the land area covers 4.527 hectares.
This building was named in honour ofSamuel Leonard Tilley, federalFinance Minister in 1873–1878.


CSE uses generic identifiers imposed by theFederal Identity Program. However, CSE is one of several federal departments and agencies (primarily those having law enforcement, security or regulatory functions) that have been granted a badge by theCanadian Heraldic Authority. The badge was granted in 1994, whileCSE's pennant was first raised in 1996 to mark the organization's 50th anniversary.
From the 1990s to the mid 2000s, CSE's Information Technology Security program used a logo to identify its products and publications. The triangle represented threats, while the arc symbolized protection.[44]
In addition to those mentioned below, CSE is bound by all other Canadian laws, including theCriminal Code, theCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, thePrivacy Act,Security of Information Act, and theAvoiding Complicity in Mistreatment by Foreign Entities Act.[19]
In December 2001, the Canadian government passedomnibus bill C-36 into law as theAnti-Terrorism Act. The Act amended portions of theNational Defence Act and officially recognized CSE's mandate.
The Anti-Terrorism Act also strengthened CSE's capacity to engage in the war on terrorism by providing needed authorities to fulfill its mandate.
In the 2007 Proceedings of theCanadian Senate Standing Committee on National Security and Defence, then-CSE Chief John Adams indicated that CSE is collectingcommunications data when he suggested that the legislation was not perfect in regard to interception of information relating to the "envelope."[45]
| Communications Security Establishment Act | |
|---|---|
| Parliament of Canada | |
| |
| Citation | S.C. 2019, c. 13, s. 76 |
| Enacted by | section 76 of chapter 13 of theStatutes of Canada, 2019 |
| Assented to | 21 June 2019 |
| Effective | 1 August 2019 |
| Status: Current legislation | |
In June 2019, theCommunications Security Establishment Act (CSE Act) was passed, as part of theNational Security Act 2017. The Actcame into force two months after passing.[19]
The CSE Act requires that CSE activities do not targetCanadians anywhere in the world, or any person in Canada, "unless there are reasons to believe that there is an imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm. The Act also requires protect theprivacy of Canadians and persons in Canada. As such, CSE is forbidden, by law, to intercept domestic communications. When intercepting communications between a domestic and foreign source, the domestic communications are destroyed or otherwise ignored. (After theSeptember 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, however, CSE's powers expanded to allow the interception of foreign communications that begin or end in Canada, as long as the other party is outside the border and ministerial authorization is issued specifically for this case and purpose.)[46]
TheMinister of National Defence guides and authorizes the activities of CSE using ministerial directives, ministerial authorizations, andministerial orders, all of which are based on the "government’s intelligence priorities as set out byCabinet through discussion and consultations with the security and intelligence community." The Defence Minister cannot authorize any activities that are not included in the CSE mandate or grant CSE any powers that do not exist in Canadian law.[19]
Ministerial directives are how the Minister of National Defence instructs the Chief of CSE.[19]
CSE operates under a system of independent oversight:[47]
CSE activities are also subject to several external oversight and review bodies.[47]
As with any other federal department or agency of Canada, the activities of CSE are also subject to review by various federal bodies, including:[47]
| Name | Appointed | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Examination Unit | ||
| Herbert Yardley | 1941 June 10 | |
| Oliver Strachey | 1942 January | |
| F.A. (Tony) Kendrick | 1942 July | |
| Gilbert de B. Robinson (acting) | 1945 April | until July 1945 |
| Edward Drake | 1945 August 1 | |
| Communications Branch of the National Research Council | ||
| Edward Drake | 1946 September 1 | died in office |
| Kevin O’Neill | 1971 February | |
| Communications Security Establishment | ||
| Peter Hunt | 1980 July | |
| Stewart Woolner | 1989 July | |
| Ian Glen | 1999 July | |
| Keith Coulter | 2001 August | |
| John Adams | 2005 July | |
| John Forster | 2012 January 30 | |
| Greta Bossenmaier | 2015 February 9 | |
| Shelly Bruce | 2018 June 27 | |
| Caroline Xavier | 2022 August 31 | |
Oversight over CSE was formerly provided by theOffice of the Communications Security Establishment Commissioner (OCSEC;French:Bureau du commissaire du Centre de la sécurité des télécommunications, BCCST), which was created on 19 June 1996 to review CSE's activities for compliance with the applicable legislation, accept and investigate complaints regarding the lawfulness of the agency's activities, and to perform special duties under the 'Public Interest Defence' clause of theSecurity of Information Act.[50] The Commissioner provided an annual public report on his activities and findings to Parliament, through the Minister of National Defence.[51]
Between 1996 and 2019, there were six Commissioners:[10]
As part of an omnibus national security bill (theNational Security Act 2017) passed by Parliament in 2019, the OCSEC was abolished and its responsibilities divided between two newly created entities: employees of the OCSEC were transferred to theOffice of the Intelligence Commissioner; and the review functions of the former OCSEC were assumed by theNational Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA).[20][48]
The previous Commissioner of CSE, Jean-Pierre Plouffe, was appointed to the role of Intelligence Commissioner on 18 July 2019.[20][48]
| Part ofa series on |
| Global surveillance |
|---|
| Disclosures |
| Systems |
| Selected agencies |
| Places |
| Laws |
| Proposed changes |
| Concepts |
| Related topics |
Under the 1948UKUSA agreement, CSE's intelligence is shared with theU.S. National Security Agency (NSA), theBritishGovernment Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), theAustralian Signals Directorate (ASD), andNew Zealand'sGovernment Communications Security Bureau (GCSB).[8][53]
Along with these services from the United States, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia, CSE is believed to form the ECHELON system. Its capabilities are suspected to include the ability to monitor a large proportion of the world's transmitted civilian telephone, fax and data traffic. The intercepted data, or "dictionaries" are "reported linked together through a high-powered array of computers known as 'Platform'."[53]
CBNRC and the information it gathered and shared was kept secret for 34 years until 9 January 1974, when theCBC Television documentary show,The Fifth Estate, aired an episode focused on the organization, with research byJames Dubro.[15] This was the first time that the organization had ever been mentioned in public.[9] This resulted in an outcry in theHouse of Commons and an admission by the Canadian government that the organization existed.[16]
A former employee of the organization, Mike Frost, claimed in a 1994 book,Spyworld, that the agency eavesdropped onMargaret Trudeau to find out if she smokedmarijuana and that CSE had monitored two of former British prime ministerMargaret Thatcher's dissenting cabinet ministers in London on behalf of the UK's secret service.[54]
In 1996, it was suggested that CSE had monitored all communications betweenNational Defence Headquarters and Somalia, and were withholding information from theSomalia Inquiry into the killing of two unarmed Somalis by Canadian soldiers.[55]
In 2006,CTV Montreal's programOn Your Side conducted a three-part documentary on CSE naming it "Canada's most secretive spy agency" and that "this ultra-secret agency has now become very powerful," conducting surveillance by monitoring phone calls, e-mails, chat groups, radio, microwave, and satellite.[56]
In 2007, former Ontario lieutenant-governor,James Bartleman, testified at theAir India Inquiry on May 3 that he saw a CSE communications intercept warning of the June 22, 1985 bombing ofAir India Flight 182 before it occurred. Two former CSE employees have since testified that no CSE report was ever produced.[57]
In 2013, a coalition ofcivil liberties associations launched a campaign directed against the government's perceived lack of transparency on issues related to the agency, demanding more information on its purported domesticsurveillance activities.[58]
Further criticism has arisen surrounding the construction costs of the agency's new headquarters inOttawa. The project is slated to cost overCA$1.1 billion, making it the most expensive government building in Canadian history.[59]
In 2014, a leaked, top-secret presentation entitled “IP Profiling Analytics & Mission Impacts” summarized experiments tracking the cellphones of travellers passing throughToronto Pearson International Airport.[60] Critics argued that the experiment was invasive and indiscriminate, while CSE countered that it was consistent with all relevant laws and mandates.
In 2016, CSE Commissioner found that one of the agency's metadata activities did not comply with the law. Specifically, CSE had failed to properly minimize certain Canadian identity information before sending it to foreign governments, contravening parts of theNational Defence Act and thePrivacy Act.[61]
InThe Good Wife episode "Landing," both theNSA and CSE are shown monitoring personal phone calls and hacking private cell phones' recording devices in order to listen in on personal conversations. One plaintiff describes CSE as "the Canadian version of the NSA."
Shelly Bruce, currently Associate Chief of the Communications Security Establishment, becomes Chief of the Communications Security Establishment, effective immediately.
In 1974, CBC Television aired a documentary "The Fifth Estate: the Espionage Establishment." While the program focused primarily on American international espionage, the program also included information on CBNRC – the first time the organization had ever been mentioned in public. The show's description of signals intelligence collection and information sharing within the Five-Eyes partnership, caused a sensation, and led to the first ever acknowledgement of the existence of the CBNRC in Canada's Parliament. The following year, 1975, the Communications Branch of the National Research Council was moved to the Department of National Defence and renamed the Communications Security Establishment (CSE).
{{cite web}}:|last= has generic name (help)As a key initiative of the 2018 National Cyber Security Strategy the cyber security functions from three departments will be united to establish the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (the Cyber Centre) as one unique, innovative, and forward-looking organization, as part of the Communications Security Establishment (CSE).
The Cyber Centre will be a single unified source of expert advice, guidance, services and support on cyber security for government, critical infrastructure owners and operations, the private sector and the Canadian public.
45°26′02″N75°36′58″W / 45.434°N 75.616°W /45.434; -75.616