CPCSC Level 2 Control

Last updated June 25, 2026

03.02.01Awareness and training

CPCSC Level 2 03.02.01: Literacy Training and Awareness

Apply literacy training and awareness to make sure people understand their responsibilities before they handle specified information for CPCSC Level 2 readiness. This guide separates the official ITSP.10.171 control language from practical implementation, evidence, auditor questions, and related controls.

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Formal Control Language

Official ITSP.10.171 wording for 03.02.01. Use the Cyber Centre publication and contract requirements as the source of truth for certification, assessment, or procurement submissions.

  • Provide security and privacy literacy training to system users: as part of initial training for new users and [Assignment: organization-defined frequency] thereafter
  • when required by system changes or following [Assignment: organization-defined events]
  • on recognizing and reporting indicators of insider threat, social engineering, and social mining
  • Update security and privacy literacy training content [Assignment: organization-defined frequency] and following [Assignment: organization-defined events]

Contains information sourced from Government of Canada material used under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

What This Means In Plain English

Literacy Training and Awareness is part of the CPCSC Level 2 Awareness and training family. This is about proving people understand the behaviours expected of them before they handle specified information or perform privileged work.

For a founder, CISO, engineer, or compliance owner, the practical question is whether literacy training and awareness is visible in real operating evidence: a setting, workflow, ticket, log, approval, review, or exception record that can survive an external assessment.

Level 2 is different from Level 1 because the evidence has to survive an external assessment. A policy statement helps, but the stronger answer is a record that shows who did the work, when it ran, what system setting or workflow enforced it, and how exceptions were handled.

How To Implement It

1

Define the in-scope systems, owners, users, vendors, and data flows affected by literacy training and awareness.

2

Assign baseline training to all in-scope personnel, add role-based training for admins and delivery teams, and keep completion records tied to onboarding and annual refreshes.

3

Translate the formal requirement into one or two operating procedures: who performs it, how often, where it is recorded, and who approves exceptions.

4

Configure the relevant systems so the control is enforced by identity, endpoint, cloud, network, ticketing, monitoring, vendor, or documentation workflows rather than memory.

5

Keep evidence in a consistent folder, GRC system, ticket queue, or audit workspace so an assessor can trace the control from requirement to implementation to review.

Evidence Normally Gathered

Literacy Training and Awareness: training assignments.

Literacy Training and Awareness: completion reports.

Literacy Training and Awareness: role-based training material.

Literacy Training and Awareness: onboarding records.

Literacy Training and Awareness: annual refresh records.

Literacy Training and Awareness: owner assignment and review cadence.

Literacy Training and Awareness: exception, remediation, or POA&M records when the control is not fully implemented.

Common Auditor Questions

Where is literacy training and awareness implemented in the in-scope environment?

Who owns literacy training and awareness, and how do they know it is operating?

Show the evidence that proves literacy training and awareness ran during the assessment period.

What happens when literacy training and awareness fails, is bypassed, or has an exception?

How does this control connect to the system security plan, risk register, POA&M, and related CPCSC controls?

Sources

Source and attribution.

Formal control language is sourced from the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security ITSP.10.171 publication. CPCSC Level 2 assessment context references the Government of Canada CPCSC program overview and ITSP.10.171-01 assessment guidance.

CPCSC Program OverviewITSP.10.171ITSP.10.171-01Open Government Licence - Canada