Bring military, spy agencies under federal whistleblower law, review report urges

The Communications Security Establishment complex is pictured in Ottawa, Oct. 15, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA — A federal review report says members of the military and key spy agencies should be able to expose wrongdoing and file complaints through the government’s whistleblowing regime.

The recommendation is among almost three dozen suggested changes in the newly released review of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act.

The law, which came into force in 2007, allows federal employees to make a disclosure of wrongdoing or file a complaint of reprisal with the public sector integrity commissioner.

The report says improvements are “urgently needed” and the law “must be revised at the earliest opportunity.”

The Treasury Board Secretariat had no immediate comment on whether it would adopt the report’s recommendations.

The Canadian Armed Forces, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Communications Security Establishment, Canada’s cyberspy agency, are currently excluded from the system.

These organizations are required to have an internal process available to allow public servants or military members to report wrongdoing.

Review task force members heard that the exclusions from the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act are due to national security concerns or, in the case of the Canadian Armed Forces, its unique chain of command.

But others told them that all federal public servants should have the option to make a disclosure internally or to the integrity commissioner.

The review report says it is “neither necessary nor appropriate” to exclude any federal government organization from the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act.

The review task force, established in 2022, included a senior public servant, academics, bargaining agent representatives and people with experience in disclosure regimes in provincial or municipal jurisdictions.

Members held in-person and virtual meetings between March 2023 and March 2025.

The report, made public Friday, says many public servants are unaware of the federal whistle-blowing law, what their options are for disclosing wrongdoing and the protections available to them if they come forward.

The Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act, as currently administered, does not provide the sense of security needed to promote a culture of integrity within the federal public sector, the report says.

Public servants are not confident they will be protected against reprisals and are afraid to disclose wrongdoing, and many doubt that disclosing wrongdoing will make a difference, it adds.

“If you keep your mouth shut, you can just deal with it in therapy and the workplace boat is not rocked … I just want to do my job," said one respondent to a survey conducted for the review.

Added another: “I’ve worked for this organization for 17 years and never heard of the PSDPA, and I’m a manager.”

The report recommends the government redraft the act to make it easier to read, understand and administer.

It also says the law should be amended to clearly set out the roles and responsibilities of chief executives, senior officers for internal disclosure and supervisors on reporting and investigating disclosures of wrongdoing.

The act should also include specific requirements on how internal investigations are to be conducted and reported in a manner that is procedurally fair for all parties, the report adds.

It also recommends that all organizations publish information on reported misconduct and wrongdoing, including the actions taken in response, while ensuring individual privacy is protected through anonymization or other approaches.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2026.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press