If you plan to work for Donna Cona in Ottawa, you may need to get a security clearance. This is an official investigation into your background done by Public Services and Procurement Canada. It confirms that you are able to work in jobs where you potentially have access to sensitive or secure information.

The security clearance process generally includes a criminal background check, verification of your history and qualifications, and may involve a credit check, fingerprinting, interviews or the submission of personal documents. If you have lived out of the country it may involve checking with authorities overseas. Depending on the level of clearance you need and your history, this process will take a minimum of 2 – 4 weeks (longer for overseas checks).

The levels of Canadian security clearance are:

  • Reliability Status
  • Security Clearance Level I: Confidential (also NATO Confidential)
  • Security Clearance Level II: Secret (also NATO Secret)
  • Security Clearance Level III: Top Secret

Getting a Reliability status requires 5 years of verifiable background, and the other levels require 10.

How Do I Get Security Clearance?

You cannot apply for a Canadian security clearance as a personal initiative: a government department or agency needs to request it. If your company will be doing work for the federal government, the designated Company Security Officer (CSO) or Alternate Company Security Officer (ACSO) for your organization can submit your form.

If you plan to apply for positions in Ottawa for which you may require security clearance, please talk to your Donna Cona representative.

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