Tens of thousands of public servants and contractors file paperwork every year requesting security clearance to gain access to classified information but only a tiny fraction are ever rejected, according to records.
The Epoch Times analyzed figures from federal entities reported in an Inquiry of Ministry on May 15.
The data provided by departments, agencies, and crown corporations shows that since 2016, 256,332 applications for Secret and Top Secret clearances were submitted. Out of these only 25 were denied, a rejection rate of 0.0097 percent.
The federal government provided the information in response to an order paper filed by Conservative MP Alex Ruff, asking for the number of applications, the number of denials not as a result of retirement or resignation, and those refused because the individual was spying or acting on behalf of a foreign government.
Ruff is one of two security-cleared Conservative MPs who sit on the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians.
All reporting federal entities indicated not having denied a clearance due to spying or disloyalty, but Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and affiliated entities refused to provide details on the matter citing the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.
“Information has been withheld on the grounds that its disclosure could reasonably be expected to be injurious to the conduct of international affairs, the defence of Canada or any state allied or associated with Canada, or the detection, prevention or suppression of subversive or hostile activities,” wrote GAC in the document.
GAC took an identical stance in response to an order paper from Conservative MP John Barlow who asked in February not about the denial of clearances, but their revocation due to spying or acting on behalf of a foreign government.
Regarding the May 15 Inquiry of Ministry, only three federal entities reported having denied security clearance applications: National Defence, ESDC, and Natural Resources Canada.
All three denials for Top Secret clearances since 2016 were within National Defence.
The data provided in the document is incomplete, with major employers such as Public Services and Procurement Canada and the Treasury Board unable to provide a response.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), which conducts the security assessments for every federal entity except the RCMP, reported having received approximately 848,300 such requests for security assessments and advice between 2016 and 2021.
But while CSIS conducts the checks, investigations, and assessments, the decision to grant, deny, or revoke security clearances is left in the hands of the hiring entities. In other words, a department could choose to grant a clearance against the advice of CSIS.
The data provided by the RCMP was incomplete, with the police force noting the figures provided for 2019 to 2023 only include new applicants and not renewals.
Public Safety Canada, which oversees CSIS and the RCMP, was contacted for comment about the low rejection rate of security clearance applications but deferred to the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS).
“Individuals who are being considered for a position requiring a Secret or Top Secret clearance must first obtain their reliability level, and as a result, a low rejection rate for security clearances at the Secret level or above would be expected,” a TBS spokesperson told The Epoch Times. A reliability level grants access to information designated as “protected” and not to classified information.
