Press here – Canadian government to require contractor fingerprints for some projectss
October 22, 2016
By
CCE
Consultants who are contracted to work on federal government projects that require security clearances will be pressing their fingerprints anytime soon.
As reported by Engineers Canada in its latest newsletter, the RCMP is changing its process for the Contract Security Program and retiring name-based criminal record checks in favour of fingerprinting.
Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) website says the fingerprinting will help “eliminate the chances of mistaken identity resulting from variant spellings of names, common surnames, the use of nicknames and name changes.” The RCMP already uses fingerprinting checks for employees of most government departments.
A pilot began on October 3 for approximately one month, and it’s expected that the mandatory fingerprinting system will be fully implemented after December 1, 2016, although a firm date is not set yet.
Handled under PWGSC’s Contract Security Program, the new process will involve the applicant going to a service provider to have their fingerprint taken. A confirmation will have to be submitted with the employee’s personnel screening form.
The Contract Security Program applies to federal contracts that involve work on sensitive information or assets, or that take place at secure sites. Consulting engineers who work on projects for Defence Construction Canada, for example, have to go through rigorous security screening for some projects, depending on their categorization.
To read a PWGSC communique, click here.
