The Evolution of Military Intelligence in Canada

Abstract

The historical evolution of a military intelligence system in Canada, like that of other Western powers, developed largely under the stimuli of the two world wars. Yet within this evolutionary framework, unique national characteristics emerged. One was the underlying Canadian concern with intelligence on a variety of threatened frontiers, especially after 1945 with the remote northern flank. Another unique feature of Canadian history was the response to the lessons of the Second World War. Rather than consolidating the wartime intelligence community to serve postwar needs, Canada restricted itself to subordinate partnership in an intelligence alliance with the United States and the United Kingdom, forfeited a strategic intelligence capability, and concentrated on domestic security problems. This article attempts to analyze these developments as a preliminary step toward the still unwritten history of the intelligence function in Canada.