Canadian Safety and Security Program

The Canadian Safety and Security Program (CSSP) is a federally-funded program, which has been allocated $43.5 million dollars annually to strengthen Canada’s ability to anticipate, prevent/mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural disasters, serious accidents, crime and terrorism through the convergence of science and technology (S&T) with policy, operations and intelligence.

The CSSP is led by the Defence R&D Canada – Centre for Security Science (DRDC CSS) on behalf of the Government of Canada and its partners across all levels of government, response and emergency management organizations, non-governmental agencies, industry and academia. The majority of the testing and evaluation component of the CSSP will be delivered through the Emergency Responder Test and Evaluation Establishment in Regina.

CSSP investments enable DRDC CSS to coordinate and support projects and activities that respond to Canadian public safety and security priorities and address capability gaps. These gaps are identified through risk and vulnerability assessments, and consultation with communities of practice, as well as central agencies, and policy, operational and intelligence entities.

Ultimately, these efforts contribute to achieving the CSSP’s primary strategic goal of ensuring that Canada’s people and institutions have a greater resilience to global and domestic public safety and security threats and hazards.

History

The CSSP amalgamates the mandates of three former DRDC CSS-led programs, building on their successes, lessons learned and best practices:

• The Chemical, Biological, Radiological-Nuclear and Explosives (CBRNE) Research and Technology Initiative (CRTI), which focused primarily on CBRNE counter-terrorism;
• The Public Security Technical Program (PSTP), which expanded S&T efforts into other areas like critical infrastructure protection, cyber-security, surveillance, intelligence, interdiction, border security, emergency management systems (people, tools and processes) and interoperability; and
• The Canadian Police Research Centre (CPRC), which focused on harnessing S&T for the benefit of police, fire and emergency medical services across Canada.

The integration of these efforts under one comprehensive program allows investments to be distributed more effectively across the different domains previously covered by the three separate programs. It also enables DRDC CSS to streamline administrative processes, reduce duplication of efforts and improve how it aligns its activities with other Government of Canada programs and priorities.