RCMP Security Service

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title: "RCMP Security Service" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["defunct-canadian-intelligence-agencies", "defunct-divisions-and-units-of-the-royal-canadian-mounted-police"] description: "Intelligence branch of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police" topic_path: "geography/canada" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCMP_Security_Service" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Intelligence branch of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ::

The RCMP Security Service () was a branch of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) that had responsibility for domestic intelligence and security in Canada. It was replaced by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in 1984 on the recommendation of the McDonald Commission, which was called in the wake of major scandals during the 1970s.

History

The RCMP carried out extensive security service work since the force was reconstituted in 1920, when it merged with the Dominion Police and became the federal police agency solely responsible for national security. Between the wars, this work was overwhelmingly directed at the Communist Party, as well as labour unions and Marxists more generally. It was in 1946 that the RCMP's Intelligence Section was in charge of national security work.

In 1950, the RCMP's Special Branch was formally established to conduct its counterintelligence operations. Prior to that, the branch was a component of the RCMP's Criminal Investigation Branch, where political security operations and criminal investigations were not distinct before 1936. The first Special Branch class was held in 1953.

In 1962, the branch was renamed the Directorate of Security and Intelligence, and in 1970, it became the RCMP Security Service. During the 1960s, it targeted Quebec nationalists, particularly the militant Front de libération du Québec (FLQ). As a result of illegal tactics, including illegal surveillance and vigilantism, used by the RCMP Security Service and the consequent scandals surrounding the RCMP, intelligence work was transferred to a new agency, CSIS in 1984 through the implementation of Bill C-9.

Legacy

The RCMP has again become involved in intelligence work, particularly related to counterterrorism, following the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in 1985 and the 9/11 attacks under the Security Offences Act.

References

References

1. (15 March 2019). "The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS): Past and Present".
2. Steven Roy Hewitt. (1997). "Old Myths Die Hard: The Transformation of the Mounted Police in Alberta and Saskatchewan, 1914–1939". University of Saskatchewan.
3. "ARCHIVED - Archiving Content".
4. (22 June 2005). "RCMP: A Brief History". CBC.
5. "RCMP Special Branch Lectures · RCMP Special Branch Lectures · Canada Declassified".
6. (30 June 2017). "The story of how Canadian police committed arson to stop a Black Panther meeting".
7. "Open Source Intelligence".
8. (December 2003). "Origins of SIRC - SIRC".
9. "Arar case raises ghost of past RCMP follies on security front".
10. (4 April 2005). "Consolidated federal laws of Canada, Security Offences Act".

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