New features added to the online industrial security services portal
Communiqué: March 27, 2017
On April 8, 2017, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) will launch two new features to Contract Security Program's online industrial security services (OLISS) portal.
Both features are meant to decrease the number of paper submissions to the program and provide convenient and effective options to its OLISS users.
The new features
As part of the personnel security screening process, the applicant is required to consent to having their personal information verified. The company security officer (CSO) or the alternate company security officer (ACSO) and the applicant then sign the relevant Treasury Board Secretariat security screening form to confirm the accuracy of the information provided.
The Contract Security Program is improving its service by streamlining this process by launching two new features:
- Electronic signatures (e-signature option)
- Additional online text fields
Benefits of the new features
Any company security officer (CSO) or alternate company security officer (ACSO) who uses the online personnel security screening service in OLISS to electronically complete and submit employee security screening application forms will notice the following benefits:
- a reduction in the number of emails, faxes and hard copy correspondences submitted to the Program
- a convenient and effective service
- support the greening of government operations through the reduction of paper documents
When the new features are launched on April 8, 2017, applicants and their CSO/ACSO will notice an update to the website when visiting the Company security officer's guide to completing and submitting personnel security screening forms page.
Electronic signature (e-signature) option
An applicant requesting a personnel security screening through the OLISS portal can now consent to having their personal information verified by using the e-signature option. When the e-signature option is selected, there is no longer a need to send hard copies of personnel security screening forms to the Contract Security Program.
How to use the online industrial security services e-sign option
To take advantage of this new feature, both the CSO/ACSO and the applicant need to choose the e-signature option. For instance, when a CSO/ACSO receives a completed and e-signed application form(s) from an applicant, the security official needs to ensure the e-signature option (e-sign button) has been selected. In cases where two forms (TBS/SCT 330-23 and 330-60) are required as part of the applicant's screening request, both the CSO/ACSO and the applicant must e-sign the two forms.
Note
For the electronic signature option to work, both the CSO/ACSO and the applicant must e-sign the relevant personnel security screening request form(s).
If a personnel security clearance request is submitted to the program and any of the required e-signatures are missing, the application will not be treated as having been "e-signed". The program will communicate with the CSO/ACSO and request that signed hard copy documents be submitted.
Choosing not to use the e-sign option
If either the CSO/ACSO or the applicant chooses not to e-sign a personnel security screening service (PSSS) personnel security screening request, the CSO/ACSO must continue to:
- print and sign all original hard copies of the applicant's request forms
- submit the hard copy documents to the Contract Security program via fax, email or mail
- contact the Contract Security Program for information on submitting forms
Additional online text fields
The program no longer needs OLISS users to submit additional details regarding a security screening application in a separate cover (via email, fax or mail). Under the new feature, OLISS users must submit those details electronically by entering the additional information in the appropriate OLISS fields.
Examples of additional details to be submitted electronically
The applicant may:
- need to explain why they don't know an immediate relative's home address
- have an estranged parent whom they cannot contact
- have lived at an address in another country where postal codes are not used
- have worked in one city but lived in another at the same time
Note
Hard copy documents that the Contract Security Program requires as proof that a person was born outside Canada or born in Canada but holding dual citizenship must continue to be sent to the program under separate cover via mail.
Client information remains secure
The Contract Security Program protects the confidentiality of applicants' information and ensures that their electronic transactions are secure. All personal information provided to the program is protected and used according to the provisions of the federal Privacy Act and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's Policy on Privacy Protection.
To protect the personal information of its clients, the program uses encryption, which allows information to be safely transmitted and confirmed. In addition, firewalls protect the program's internal computer systems and databases. These measures minimize the risk that information being transmitted will be altered or viewed.
Register for the online industrial security services portal
All CSO/ACSO whose organization is registered in the Contract Security Program may request access to the OLISS portal. Registered OLISS users can access the new features as soon as they are available.
- Email:
- TPSGC.SSISEDSISensibilisation-ISSOLISSOutreach.PWGSC@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca
Contact us
For questions about these new features or to learn more about the Contract Security Program, you can:
- send email to: TPSGC.dgspsctransformation-dobcsptransformation.PWGSC@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca
- contact the Contract Security Program
More information
To learn more about the Contract Security Program's security screening process visit: Apply for security screening for your personnel.