CPCSC Level 2 Control

Last updated June 25, 2026

03.09.02Personnel security

CPCSC Level 2 03.09.02: Personnel Termination and Transfer

Apply personnel termination and transfer to manage personnel trust, screening, termination, and transfer processes around 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 03.09.02. Use the Cyber Centre publication and contract requirements as the source of truth for certification, assessment, or procurement submissions.

  • When individual employment is terminated: disable system access within [Assignment: organization-defined time period]
  • terminate or revoke authenticators and credentials associated with the individual
  • retrieve security-related system property
  • When individuals are reassigned or transferred to other positions in the organization: review and confirm the ongoing operational need for current logical and physical access authorizations to the system and facility
  • modify access authorization to correspond with any changes in operational need

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

What This Means In Plain English

Personnel Termination and Transfer is part of the CPCSC Level 2 Personnel security family. This is about linking people-risk decisions to access decisions, especially when someone joins, changes roles, or leaves.

For a founder, CISO, engineer, or compliance owner, the practical question is whether personnel termination and transfer 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 personnel termination and transfer.

2

Coordinate HR, managers, IT, and security so screening, termination, transfer, access removal, and return of assets happen on a defined timeline.

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

Personnel Termination and Transfer: screening records.

Personnel Termination and Transfer: offboarding checklists.

Personnel Termination and Transfer: transfer tickets.

Personnel Termination and Transfer: asset return records.

Personnel Termination and Transfer: access removal confirmations.

Personnel Termination and Transfer: owner assignment and review cadence.

Personnel Termination and Transfer: exception, remediation, or POA&M records when the control is not fully implemented.

Common Auditor Questions

Where is personnel termination and transfer implemented in the in-scope environment?

Who owns personnel termination and transfer, and how do they know it is operating?

Show the evidence that proves personnel termination and transfer ran during the assessment period.

What happens when personnel termination and transfer 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