Course Description 

Welcome to Security Awareness!

As an individual employed with the Government of Canada, you have a role in helping to mitigate security risks within your department. As per the Financial Administration Act (FAA), a department is any division or branch of the federal public administration.

Regardless of your work location, taking part in security awareness and training helps to ensure you have the necessary knowledge and skills to promote a secure workplace while performing your duties. Not knowing your responsibilities can put your department at risk of compromise, which in turn can have potential consequences for you and for the Government of Canada.

The purpose of this course is to give you an awareness of the eight security controls, your key responsibilities with regards to security, and the consequences of not fulfilling them. It will also share resources to deepen your knowledge of government security.

Learn about the structure of this course by selecting the titles below.  

Select each item to learn more.

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Learning Objectives

After completing this course, you should be able to:

  1. Apply the eight security controls outlined in the Policy on Government Security (PGS) in your day-to-day activities
  2. Recognize your security responsibilities in order to mitigate security risks and help protect your department

Audience and Time Requirements

Audience

The course is designed for all individuals employed within the Government of Canada in federal departments, as defined in section 2 and in entities included in Schedules IV and V of the Financial Administration Act (FAA), unless excluded by specific acts, regulations or orders in council.

Time requirement

It should take you approximately 1 hour to complete this course.

Course Structure

There are two ways to complete this course:

  1. Using the floorplan or titles on the main page
  2. Reading the document Security Control Content (provided below)

Main page

The floorplan on the main page depicts a hybrid office and home-based workspace setting. It is divided into four areas, each with two or three spaces to explore. These areas represent different times when the eight security controls apply to your day-to-day activities, from before being appointed to your position to now and into the future, whether you're working from home, in the office, travelling or elsewhere. In each room there are items to select. They lead to scenarios, information, videos and reflection questions related to the eight security controls found in the Policy of Government Security (PGS). 

You may visit the areas in any order.

Security Control Content

If you prefer to learn about how the eight security controls apply to your daily work without videos, images or activities, you can download the Security Control Content (Word document, 1.45MB). This document contains the same information as the online format, but is grouped by security control, not by area.

Glossary

Definitions are available in 0.4 Glossary.

On each popup window and Summary page there are icons indicating the security control covered. Hover your cursor or use the tab key over the icon to display the definition for that security control.