RCMP Security Service is the former branch of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police which had responsibilities of domestic intelligence and security for Canada . It was replaced by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service ( CSIS ) on the recommendation of the McDonald Commission , which was called in the wake of major scandals in the 1970s . In 1950 , the Royal Canadian Mounted Police 's Special Branch was formally established to conduct its counterintelligence operations . Prior to that , the branch was a component of the RCMP 's Criminal Investigation Branch , where political security operations and criminal investigations were not distinct before 1936 . The Mounties carried out extensive security service work since the force was reconstituted in 1920 , when it merged with the Dominion Police and became the federal police agency solely responsible for national security . Between the wars , this work was overwhelmingly directed at the Communist Party and labour and the left more generally . In 1962 , the branch was renamed the Directorate of Security and Intelligence , and in 1970 it became the RCMP Security Service . In the 1960s , it targeted Quebec nationalists , particularly the militant Front de libération du Québec . As a result of illegal tactics used by the Security Service and consequent scandals surrounding the RCMP , intelligence work was transferred to a new agency , CSIS , in 1984 . The RCMP has again become involved in intelligence work , however , particularly related to terrorism following the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in 1985 and the 9/11 attacks
Air India Flight 182
Air India Flight 182
RCMP Security Service