{"id":12,"date":"2026-07-19T21:56:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T01:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nscoesn.ca\/purpose\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T22:01:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T02:01:12","slug":"purpose","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nscoesn.ca\/en\/purpose\/","title":{"rendered":"Purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Why we exist<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The National Security Centre of Excellence is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit body, run entirely by volunteers. Our mission is to help safeguard Canada and Canadian interests by advising Canadian entities on the multidomain threats and risks to national security, across politics, strategy, policy, law, and technology, through collaborative research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We exist to build the awareness, capability, and maturity of the organisations that serve the Government of Canada, that provide services to Canadians, or whose disruption would harm Canada and Canadian interests. We work alongside international researchers, the Government of Canada, and the members whose support sustains us, serving as a direct feedback loop to government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A national honour<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Proclamation ceremonies originated in the Middle Ages, when they were used to publicize laws and decrees, and to give royal acts official force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The granting of Arms is a national honour in Canada. What began under the authority of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, in late 2021 was completed in 2023, when the Centre’s official heraldry was granted by His Majesty King Charles III, King of Canada, through Canada’s Governor General and the Chief Herald of Canada at the Governor General’s Canadian Heraldic Authority<\/a>. It symbolizes the Centre’s commitment to safeguarding Canada’s national security.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Arms<\/div>\n
Hoce Tutabimur<\/div>\n
“This we will protect”<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

The shield.<\/strong> Red and white, Canada’s colours, stand for the country the Centre is sworn to protect, while gold speaks to excellence. The arched gold band above reads as an umbrella held over the nation; the interwoven red lattice beneath it represents the technological measures that guard against cyber-attack. At the centre, a white knight chess piece, which strikes from unexpected angles, captures the strategic character of our advice, and the olive branches around it stand for international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crest.<\/strong> Above the shield rests a golden pangolin. Armoured in overlapping scales that both shield and cut, it embodies our dual purpose: helping Canadian organisations raise sound defences, while enabling them to counter threats before they arrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The supporters.<\/strong> Two creatures uphold the Arms. To the left, a unicorn, long held to be fierce, elusive, and able to detect and neutralise poison, reflects our resolve in defending Canadian interests. To the right, a dapple-grey Warlander, among the closest living descendants of the medieval warhorse. Together they express the two sides of our work, the defensive and the offensive.<\/p>\n\n\n

See the official grant in the Public Register<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Areas of concern<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Centre’s research and advisory work is oriented around a defined set of national security concerns, drawn from the multidomain threat environment facing Canada and Canadian interests. They are not a taxonomy to be completed but the standing questions the Centre returns to, the matters against which its analysis, its convening, and its advice to government are measured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These concerns cut across the six security domains rather than sitting within any one of them. Foreign influence and interference, disinformation, and the erosion of political stability bear on the integrity of public life. Espionage, terrorism, and organised crime test the state’s capacity to protect its people. Threats to critical infrastructure and to sovereignty reach into the systems and territory on which everyday security depends. And active international conflicts shape the environment in which all of these unfold. The Centre studies them together because that is how they are encountered.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n <\/svg>\n Concerns<\/span>\n Foreign influence<\/span>Political stability<\/span>Public safety<\/span>Espionage<\/span>Sovereignty<\/span>Disinformation<\/span>Foreign interference<\/span>Terrorism<\/span>Critical infrastructure<\/span>Organised crime<\/span>International conflicts<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why we exist The National Security Centre of Excellence is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit body, run entirely by volunteers. Our mission is to help safeguard Canada and Canadian interests by advising Canadian entities on the multidomain threats and risks to national security, across politics, strategy, policy, law, and technology, through collaborative research. We exist to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nscoesn.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nscoesn.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nscoesn.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nscoesn.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nscoesn.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nscoesn.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66,"href":"https:\/\/nscoesn.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12\/revisions\/66"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nscoesn.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}