Public Safety Canada (PSC; , SPC; PSP), legally incorporated as the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (PSEPC), is the department of the Government of Canada responsible for (most) matters of public safety, emergency management, national security, and emergency preparedness in Canada. The department is responsible to Parliament through the minister of public safety (Marco Mendicino) and minister of emergency preparedness (Bill Blair). History Prior to 1988, the agency responsible for the "public safety" portfolio was known as Emergency Preparedness Canada, which was created under the auspices of the Department of National Defence. In 1988, the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness was established by the Emergency Preparedness Act. With the purpose of creating a single entity with responsibility for ensuring public safety in Canada, the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness was created in December 2003 during a reorganization of the federal government. Created as a direct result of lessons learned from the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, the department is in many ways similar to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; it does not cover the protection of maritime sovereignty (which is covered by the Canadian Forces, Transport Canada, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada), and it does not have general jurisdiction over immigration (it took over immigration enforcement functions most visibly at borders and ports of landing, but the separate department Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada manages application and screening, settlement services, and naturalization). PSEPC became legally established when the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Act came into force on 4 April 2005. Governance and organization The legal authority of Public Safety Canada is enabled through the Emergency Management Act (2007) and the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Act, S.C. 2005, c. 10, which came into force on 4 April 2005 during the Martin government. The department became legally established when this Act came to be. Public Safety Canada is the responsibility of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, currently Bill Blair. The institutional head is the Deputy Minister, who has been Rob Stewart since 11 December 2019. Other senior officials of the department include: the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety, Joël Lightbound, and Associate Deputy Minister, Monik Beauregard (since August 12, 2019), among others. PSC has 12 regional offices, which are located across the country and are organized into 5 regions: