Privacy Impact Assessment Summary: CIC – RCMP Memorandum of Understanding

This report is a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The partnership between CIC and the RCMP is vital to ensuring the effective administration and enforcement of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), and the Citizenship Act. The key objectives of the CIC-RCMP partnership are to preserve the integrity of Canada’s immigration, refugee and citizenship programs; to maintain and protect the health, safety and security of Canadians; and to promote international order and justice by denying the use of Canadian territory to persons who are likely to engage in criminal activity. The MOU includes annexes covering criminal screening, intelligence sharing, referrals for prosecutions, RCMP attendance at citizenship ceremonies, and communications.

This report analyzed all aspects of the MOU and annexes where personal information is shared. The MOU and annexes contain significant safeguards for the protection of personal information in line with new TBS requirements. The report identified three areas in the sharing of personal information: criminal screening; intelligence sharing; and referrals for prosecutions. Each area was examined in terms of privacy risk. No risks were identified in relation to intelligence sharing and referrals for prosecutions. Risk was identified in the context of criminal screening, specifically with respect to access and use of personal information. The report outlines detailed mitigation strategies in order to address these risks. 

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