ISS > 65th ANNIVERSARY > HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

CELEBRATING 65 YEARS

• Historical Perspective
  
• A message from the Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Government Information Services, Jane Meyboom-Hardy
  
• A message from the ISS Director General, Gerry Deneault
  
• A message from the CIISD Acting Director, Albert Bissonnette
  
• A message from the CGD Director, Peter Hull
  
• A message from the PHSD Acting Director, Cynthia Armstrong
  
• A fine balance — ISS helps to safeguard national security, spur economy (an article from Doing Business with PWGSC – Summer 2006)
  

Historical Perspective

On August 4, 1941, the Industrial Security Branch was established under the Department of Munitions and Supply, one of the predecessors of Public Works and Government Services Canada. E.J. Johnson was the first Director General. Its existence came after a few years of efforts from the Government to make sure that the contractors of Canadian plants engaged in war supplies met the security requirements of their contract relating to the protection of their plants against espionage and sabotage. Since there was no branch equipped to do this work, as a temporary measure, the Legal Branch undertook the work with the assistance of R.L. Anderson, who was appointed as the Senior Security Officer on November 1, 1940. The Branch worked closely with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Department of National Defence. By the middle of 1941, an increase in the volume of work resulted in the creation of a separate Branch, so became the existence of the Industrial Security Branch.

The majority of the work undertaken by the Industrial Security Branch consisted of establishing and monitoring the protective measures to provide the best security for a total of 500 war plants. The main security requirements were as follows: (1) appointment of a full time security officer; (2) proper physical security; (3) rotating guard system; (4) adequate fire fighting system; (5) fingerprinting and photographing of employees; and (6) employee identification system. It is interesting to note that some commonality exists, such as listed above, between the security requirements that the war plants had to implement and the physical security standards of today’s Industrial Security Program, however, today over 5,800 companies are registered.

Throughout the years, the mandate of the Industrial Security Branch evolved and embraced a broader range of services, which resulted in the addition of the following three directorates.

1. the Canadian and International Industrial Security Directorate (CIISD) has existed since the beginning in one form or another. It is comprised of four different divisions; personnel security screening, organization screening and contract security, and International security;
   
   
2. the Controlled Goods Directorate (CGD) was created in 2001 and its objective is to safeguard controlled goods and/or controlled technology within Canada and prevent controlled goods and/or controlled technology from being accessed by unauthorized persons;
   
   
3. the Program Harmonization and Services Directorate (PHSD) was created in 2004. Its objective is to provide strategic advice to all levels of management within the Sector and directs the development, implementation and management of the framework, policies, directives and processes required to provide sustaining functions for the Sector in the areas of business planning, policy, management information services, financial management, training, performance measurement, quality management, information technology and administrative/human resource services.

Today, the Industrial Security Sector contributes to the safety and security of all Canadians and continues to reach for excellence in Industrial Security.