Set CSIS screening standards
Petitioners ask the Government of Canada to establish and publish measurable CSIS immigration‑screening service standards, a documented escalation and review process, regular aggregate performance reporting, and a time‑bound backlog‑reduction plan.
Why we would sign this petition
- Creates clear timeliness benchmarks to help reduce prolonged screening delays that petitioners say cause family separation, career and financial harm.
- Increases accountability by requiring CSIS to publish aggregate referral, processing-time and performance data so Parliament and the public can assess timeliness.
- Establishes escalation procedures and a time‑bound backlog‑reduction plan to prioritize older cases and provide measurable progress.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- Fixed public service standards could constrain CSIS operational flexibility and risk revealing sensitive methods or undermining national security.
- Aggregate metrics and deadlines may oversimplify complex, case‑specific security assessments and mislead public expectations about variable processing times.
- Meeting new standards and reducing backlogs may require substantial resources or reallocation that could affect other priorities.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
Petition to the Government of Canada Immigration security screening is shared by IRCC, CSIS and CBSA; For applications requiring CSIS screening, CBSA has confirmed that its work begins only after CSIS completes its review, so delays at CSIS delay CBSA screening and IRCC’s final decision; CBSA strives to complete permanent-residence security screening within 107 calendar days after CSIS finishes, while CSIS has no comparable public service standard; CSIS states in its 2025 Public Report that its immigration-screening inventory remains at a historic high and that NSIRA complaints increased by 290% between 2024 and 2025, with over 91% relating to alleged delays in CSIS immigration security screening; Prolonged screening can cause family separation, career and financial harm, repeated access requests, oversight complaints and court proceedings; Without a CSIS service standard, Parliament and Canadians lack a benchmark to assess the timeliness and performance of CSIS immigration screening; and Measurable CSIS standards and reporting would improve accountability and efficiency without compromising national security. We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to: 1. Establish and publish measurable CSIS service standards, from receipt of a security screening referral to delivery of advice to CBSA and IRCC; 2. Establish a documented escalation and review process for cases exceeding the applicable service standards; 3. Require CSIS to publish aggregate data on referrals received, completed and outstanding, inventory age, median and 80th-percentile processing times, and performance against the service standards; and 4. Develop and publish a time-bound CSIS immigration-screening backlog-reduction plan with measurable targets and progress reports.
Government response
No government response is available yet.