Gazette - Canada’s National Anti-Counterfeiting Bureau

COVER SECTION

The front line on Canadian document integrity

By Caroline Ross

Sonia Michaud, a forensic specialist with the NACB, uses specialized equipment to view the ultraviolet light security features on a Canadian twenty dollar bill.

What’s new with the RCMP’s National Anti-Counterfeiting Bureau (NACB)? The word “National,” for one.

In August 2007, the Bureau changed its name and its mandate to establish itself as a “centre of expertise” on counterfeiting activity and document security in Canada — a role that helps promote a more consistent, unified national anti-counterfeiting effort.

The RCMP began examining suspect documents in 1937, creating a separate counterfeit currency analysis unit in 1961. In 2003, both functions were amalgamated under the Bureau for Counterfeit and Document Examinations, but the program’s directive to support police casework didn’t reflect the group’s emerging role as an advisor to government agencies outside the police arena.

“By the nature of our work, we get exposed to all kinds of methods by which security features on documents — like bank notes, passports and drivers’ licences — are altered or counterfeited,” says Shawki Elias, NACB program manager. “We see what security features are under threat and what kind of threat.”

From 2003 to 2006, the NACB analyzed over 1.8 million counterfeit bank notes and 30,000 suspect documents. The Bureau examines every counterfeit bank note seized in Canada, identifying vulnerabilities and tracking trends in a database. NACB staff also visit seized counterfeiting operations to observe the tools and techniques criminals use.

That experience accumulates over time, says Elias, and the Bureau now receives regular requests to help federal and provincial agencies safeguard their documents against counterfeiting.

“In terms of defeating counterfeits, the people who have the pulse on (our document’s) functionality and how it performs are the (NACB),” says Andy Ward at the Bank of Canada. “They bring real-world data to complement technical and scientific analyses performed by our in-house experts.”

Ward is project manager for the next generation of Canadian bank notes, targeted for release in late 2011. He invited the NACB’s Paul Laurin to sit on a currency development working group, because, Ward says, the NACB provides “first-hand, detailed and comprehensive knowledge of counterfeiting activity,” as well as a “retrospective” history of how bank notes perform against counterfeiting over time.

That unique perspective has proved useful in the past, says Ward. In one instance, during a debate about whether to change a security feature on a particular bank note, Laurin drew on NACB analyses to verify that the feature was durable and not well-replicated by counterfeiters.

“That type of input helps the Bank make soundly based decisions,” says Ward.

The NACB offers similar intelligence and advice to agencies responsible for travel and identity documents such as the Canadian passport, the Certificate of Indian Status and provincial birth certificates.

The Bureau also participates in larger government initiatives, such as the Document Integrity Interdepartmental Working Group headed by the Canada Border Services Agency. Under that group’s auspices, the NACB chairs a technical subgroup of forensic experts who recommend minimum security features and analyze prototypes for federal and provincial travel and identity documents.

In Ontario, the subgroup helped the Ministry of Transportation ensure that its new provincial driver’s licence incorporated leading-edge security features — like laser-engraved photographs — that strengthen the card against tampering.

“There’s nothing like knowing first-hand exactly what’s happening on the street with the cards,” says Steve Burnett, manager of the Ontario driver’s licence project. “With all the identity theft and counterfeiting that’s going on, we need to make sure we have a secure card to help protect the identity of Ontarians.”

These collective efforts help standardize Canadian document integrity and ensure that cross-jurisdictional initiatives support one another. A driver’s licence, for example, can be used as a secondary document to confirm the identity of passport applicants. With fewer counterfeit drivers’ licences in circulation, the Canadian passport becomes more secure.

In the past, says Elias, Canada lacked a well-coordinated document integrity effort. Today, that effort is there, and the NACB is a key part of it.