Just a short comment on this thread. I realize most of the information contained within this forum tends to be centric on the US, I thought I would
throw a little in here from the great white north and security clearances.
I served as a Civilian Instructor (paid) with the Government of Canada in the Royal Canadian Air Cadet program, as such, I was paid as a 2LT, and had
a security clearance. These security clearances included a VSS (Vulnerability Sector Screening), ERS (Enhanced Reliability Screening), and a Level 1-
Confidential clearance(first of 3 levels), nothing terribly spectacular, and I was not going to come across anything that would put national security
at risk, only personal information, and the odd "confidential" thing. When I was going through the process, first step was getting a CRC/CRNC
(Criminal Record Check/Criminal Record Name Check), done at the local police force who uses information from CPIC (Canadian Police Information Center)
the information clearing house for police in Canada. the next step was completing this form.
Government of Canada - Security Clearance Form (PDF)
Once this is completed, it is submitted (in my case, VIA my Commanding Officer) it becomes a waiting game.
Approximately 3 months into the investigation, I was called into my CO's office for an interview, it was regarding my clearance. As it happens, there
was a credit issue regarding a unpaid cell phone bill, at an address and in a province I had never lived (as it happens, my brother hat lived in the
area, but have never found out if he used my name or not). My CO was contacted by his superiors and told to "counsel" me on my financial and credit
situation, after a fairly lengthy meeting, and the explanation that I had never lived there, so could not possibly have a bill in my name there, the
information was forwarded to the people investigating me for my clearance. A few months after this meeting, I was called into another meeting with my
CO, and "counseled" again, this time things went better, he did inform me that I nearly failed my clearance because of the unpaid cell phone bill, but
the investigators checked and discovered that i had never had a driver's license, Voters registry entry, Tax return, or Provincial health coverage
entry from the province in question, and were satisfied that the bill was not in fact mine.
Oddly, thought the unpaid bill was deemed to not be mine, the advice was given to just pay off the bill, as it was showing up on a basic credit check
as being mine, and for the amount of money the bill was, it might be worth paying a few hundred dollars to get it off my check. Of course, me being
the stubborn fool I am, refused to drop a few hundred on the bill, but it has reached it's 7 year life since and gone stale, so no longer there.
My CO then proceeded to walk me through the rest of the process, my security briefing, Security Screening Certificate and Briefing Form, and my "Oath
of Office and Secrecy". My level 1 clearance is good for 10 years, but I am subject to periodic with cause reviews if they are warranted, but
currently, as the clearance goes with the position or appointment, it is inactive as I am not currently a CI with any units. If I were to rejoin a
unit, I can have my clearance reactivated and transferred to my new unit/position very simply, with a much less invasive process.
Government of Canada - Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat - Personnel Security
Standard
Here is a link to Government of Canada website that does a pretty good job of spelling out the process.
Hope this information adds to peoples understanding of security clearances (Canadian or otherwise).
edit on 11/19/2011 by RyanFromCan because:
(no reason given)