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Home Programs Emergency management Critical infrastructure protection About critical infrastructure About critical infrastructure
Canada's critical infrastructure consists of those physical and information technology facilities, networks, services and assets which, if disrupted or destroyed, would have a serious impact on the health, safety, security or economic well-being of Canadians or the effective functioning of governments in Canada.
Critical infrastructure sectorsOur national critical infrastructure is made up of ten sectors:
All-hazards approachCanada's critical infrastructure could potentially be affected by both physical and cyber threats. For example, electricity supply can be severely disrupted by a tornado (physical threat), a major accident (physical or cyber threat) or a computer hacking attack that disables an essential control system (cyber threat). The NCIAP takes into consideration all hazards. Definition of the protection of critical infrastructureCritical infrastructure protection can be defined as actions and programs that:
Better risk managementGiven the interdependencies and connectedness among critical infrastructures, an interruption of any one service could have a cascading effect and disrupt other essential services or systems. For example, during the 1998 Ice Storm, large segments of rural and urban communities were in the dark and without heat. Traffic and street lights were out. Banking and government services were interrupted. The disruption in one sector -- electricity -- affected a score of others, interrupting the delivery of important services upon which Canadians depend. |