CPCSC Level 2 Control

Last updated June 25, 2026

03.15.01Planning

CPCSC Level 2 03.15.01: Policy and Procedures

Apply policy and procedures to document how the system is scoped, protected, used, and governed 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 03.15.01. Use the Cyber Centre publication and contract requirements as the source of truth for certification, assessment, or procurement submissions.

  • Develop, document, and disseminate to organizational personnel or roles, policies and procedures needed to satisfy the security requirements for the protection of specified information
  • Review and update policies and procedures [Assignment: organization-defined frequency]

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

What This Means In Plain English

Policy and Procedures is part of the CPCSC Level 2 Planning family. This is about documenting the system, its scope, its rules, and the people responsible for protecting specified information.

For a founder, CISO, engineer, or compliance owner, the practical question is whether policy and procedures 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 policy and procedures.

2

Maintain security policies, system security plans, and rules of behaviour that reflect the actual in-scope environment and are reviewed when the environment changes.

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

Policy and Procedures: policy documents.

Policy and Procedures: system security plan.

Policy and Procedures: rules of behaviour acknowledgements.

Policy and Procedures: review records.

Policy and Procedures: scope diagrams.

Policy and Procedures: owner assignment and review cadence.

Policy and Procedures: exception, remediation, or POA&M records when the control is not fully implemented.

Common Auditor Questions

Where is policy and procedures implemented in the in-scope environment?

Who owns policy and procedures, and how do they know it is operating?

Show the evidence that proves policy and procedures ran during the assessment period.

What happens when policy and procedures 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