Technopôle Defence & Security

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THE PUBLIC SAFETY SCENE IN CANADA : A FRAGMENTED AND COMPLEX SITUATION

On the Federal Scale:

The responsibility of public safety is divided between a wide range of actors and is not a centralised sector like Canada’s national defence. Ex: Transport Canada is in charge of the safety and security of maritime, air, road, railroad and dangerous substances transportation when Health Canada, via the Public Health Agency of Canada, would be in charge in a pandemic disease scenario.

In operation since 2003, Public Safety Canada’s role is to coordinates the action of all interveners. It is also in charge of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and Canada Border Services Agency.

The Canadian public safety market is fragmented and complex. To be efficient in this environment, it requires an expert knowledge of policies and programs, of the actors and decision makers as well as the coordinating organizations. With its unique expertise of the security field, Technopôle Defence and Security gives a global market understanding and allows its members to better identify business opportunities and long term tendencies of this market.

Federal Department with Responsibilities in Public Safety
Public Safety Canada	Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Health Canada / Public Health Agency of Canada	Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
Transport Canada / Canadian Air Transport Security Authorities	Environment Canada
Department of National Defence	Privy Council Office
Department of Justice Canada	Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada / Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Natural Resources Canada	Industry Canada

The Provinces

Public safety is also an important responsibility for governments of provinces and territories. Therefore, each of them has its own Public Safety Department or the equivalent. When a situation occurs in more than one province, these departments need to collaborate.

Province	Organization in charge of Security
Alberta	Solicitor General and Public Security
British Columbia	Ministry of Public Safety and the Solicitor General
Prince Edward Island	Office of the Attorney General
Manitoba	Department of Justice and Attorney General
New Brunswick	Ministère de la Sécurité publique
Nova Scotia	Department of Justice
Nunavut	Ministère des services communautaires et gouvernementaux
Ontario	Sécurité communautaire et services correctionnels
Québec	Ministère de la sécurité publique
Saskatchewan	Corrections, Public Safety and Policing
Newfoundland et Labrador	Department of Justice and Attorney General
North West Territories	Department of Justice
Yukon	Department of Justice

Cities

Cities are usually the first line of response in emergency situations (natural disasters, crashes, dangerous product spills, etc.) and they must be considered as prime actors in the Canadian Security scene.

The Roles of Private Organizations in Public Safety

Specific sectors, like the one identified as “essential infrastructures” (the sectors of communications and information technologies, food trades etc.) that needs to be protected from threats or incidents, are under private corporations’ responsibilities. This implies a major collaboration effort between corporations and government representatives to insure an efficient implementation.