CPCSC Level 2 Control

Last updated June 25, 2026

03.15.03Planning

CPCSC Level 2 03.15.03: Rules of Behaviour

Apply rules of behaviour 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 03.15.03. Use the Cyber Centre publication and contract requirements as the source of truth for certification, assessment, or procurement submissions.

  • Establish, rules that describe the responsibilities and expected behaviour for system usage and protecting specified information
  • Provide rules to individuals who require access to the system
  • Receive a documented acknowledgement from individuals indicating that they have read, understand, and agree to abide by the rules of behaviour before authorizing access to specified information and the system
  • Review and update the rules of behaviour [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

Rules of Behaviour 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 rules of behaviour 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 rules of behaviour.

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

Rules of Behaviour: policy documents.

Rules of Behaviour: system security plan.

Rules of Behaviour: rules of behaviour acknowledgements.

Rules of Behaviour: review records.

Rules of Behaviour: scope diagrams.

Rules of Behaviour: owner assignment and review cadence.

Rules of Behaviour: exception, remediation, or POA&M records when the control is not fully implemented.

Common Auditor Questions

Where is rules of behaviour implemented in the in-scope environment?

Who owns rules of behaviour, and how do they know it is operating?

Show the evidence that proves rules of behaviour ran during the assessment period.

What happens when rules of behaviour 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