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Sector assessment

This July 2003 paper compares national critical infrastructure sectors in eight countries to the sectors in Canada. As well, it compares Canada's provincial/territorial critical infrastructure sectors to its national sectors.

• Read the full report in the archives: An Assessment of Canada's National Critical Infrastructure Sectors. Please note that the document was published before PSEPC was created in 2003. Thus it reflects the old departmental name, Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness (OCIPEP). We hope this causes no confusion.

Executive summary

Canadians are dependent on a network of cyber and physical infrastructures. The Government of Canada defines these national critical infrastructures (NCI) as those physical and information technology facilities, networks 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.

There has been a gradual evolution surrounding the definition and protection of national critical infrastructure. The global environment has changed dramatically. Not only has there been an increase in floods, storms and other natural disasters, but threats from terrorists and computer hackers are also prevalent. Canada's critical infrastructures (CI) are highly connected and highly interdependent. A disruption to a service in one sector may impact upon multiple sectors. Additionally, the physical and cyber elements of Canada's infrastructures are inextricably linked. Canadians rely on computer networks and operating systems to run their critical infrastructure, making everything much more vulnerable.

In response to this changing environment governments around the world are re-examining what constitutes their NCI and how they will protect the most critical elements. Australia and the United States have made considerable changes to how they define their NCI sectors. Provincial and territorial governments within Canada also have focused on defining their critical infrastructure to reflect today's environment.

Stakeholders in Canada have asked the Department to re-visit its rationale for current NCI sectors and to consider expanding them. Based on discussions and consultations with major stakeholders, PSEPC now has an improved appreciation and understanding of what constitutes NCI in Canada.

Currently, Canada's six NCI sectors are: Energy and Utilities (electrical and nuclear power, natural gas and oil production and transmission systems); Communications (telecommunications and broadcasting systems); Services (financial services, food distribution and health care); Transportation (including air, rail, marine and surface); Safety (nuclear safety, search and rescue, and emergency services) and Government (major government facilities, services and information networks or assets).

Not every element of each NCI sector is of equal importance. For example, the Transportation sector is critical, but not every bridge or tunnel is, in itself, considered a national critical infrastructure. Selection criteria are necessary to identify and rank which critical infrastructure elements are of national importance.

This paper compares NCI sectors in eight countries to the six sectors in Canada. The eight countries are: United Kingdom (U.K.); Australia; the United States (U.S.); Germany; Sweden; Norway; the Netherlands and Switzerland. As well, this paper compares Canada's provincial/territorial critical infrastructure sectors to its national CI sectors. The six provinces/territories that have defined their CI sectors are: Ontario; Manitoba; New Brunswick; Alberta; Saskatchewan and the Yukon.

To complete this international and national comparison of NCI and CI sectors, assumptions were made about the criteria to be included or not included under certain sectors as many countries, including Canada, as well as the provinces/territories, have not fully defined their NCI or CI. Australia and the U.S. are excellent examples of countries that have established comprehensive definitions of their national critical infrastructure. Canada has the opportunity to show leadership in this area by clearly defining what comprises Canadian national critical infrastructure.

Recommendations

In conclusion, this paper makes three recommendations:

1. To reflect the aim of the National Critical Infrastructure Assurance Program (NCIAP) in Canada, the definition of Canada's NCI could be amended to include services. The definition could read: 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.
   
2. Canada's NCI sectors are not sufficiently comprehensive and could be restructured:
   
   
   • to explicitly include satellites as an element of the Communications sector;
   • to give information technology equal value to communications and establish a Communications and Information Technology sector (including telecommunications [phone, fax, cable, satellites], broadcasting systems, software, hardware, and networks [including the Internet]);
   • to establish Finance (including banking, securities and investment) as a separate sector;
   • to establish Health (including hospitals, health-care facilities, blood-supply facilities, laboratories and pharmaceuticals) as a separate sector;
   • to establish Food (including food distribution, food safety, and the agriculture and food industry) as a separate sector;
   • to establish Water (including drinking water and wastewater management) as a separate sector;
   • to show dams as an element of the Safety sector;
   • to include chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear (CBRN) safety and hazardous materials under the Safety sector;
   • to list meteorological services as an example of government services under the Government sector;
   • to add Key National Symbols (including cultural institutions and national sites and monuments) to the Government sector; and
   • to establish Manufacturing (including the chemical industry and the defence industrial base) as a separate sector.
     
3. When deciding on which sectors will be defined as NCI, it is important to align the sectors with federal department and agency portfolios. This will make the future work of defining roles and responsibilities easier and more effective.

Proposed National Critical Infrastructure Sectors and for Canada

*Dams can be critical to a number of sectors depending on their purpose (Water, Transportation and Energy and Utilities). While different sectors need to assure continuation of the services dams provide, a cross-cutting concern is dam safety. Recognizing the interdependency between the service dams provide and dam safety, the services should be incorporated in the appropriate sectors; however, the safety of dams could be dealt with in the Safety sector.