Canadian Forum for Digital Infrastructure Resilience (CFDIR)

The Canadian Forum for Digital Infrastructure Resilience (CFDIR) is a voluntary, consensus-based and action-oriented public-private collaboration formed to enhance the resilience of the Canadian critical digital infrastructure, resulting in a trusted digital economy for Canadians and a thriving cyber security industry.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) established CFDIR in 2020, in part to support Canada’s National Strategy for Critical Infrastructure. Under this strategy, ISED is the lead federal department for the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) critical infrastructure sector. CFDIR brings together key federal partners and industry to improve digital infrastructure resiliency.

Leadership

Government co-chair: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Industry co-chair: Microsoft Canada (March 2020 – March 2022)

Objectives

CFDIR will pursue several activities aimed to increase the resiliency of Canada’s digital infrastructure. Some activities include:

establish a trusted public-private forum for information exchange
define a collaborative risk management model to raise the bar on cyber security and ICT critical infrastructure resilience across the Canadian economy
provide a vehicle for industry to inform and advise government
plan for the deployment of disruptive technologies such as quantum, blockchain and artificial intelligence
position Canada as a proving ground for cyber-resilient solutions that can be exported globally
promote and align Canadian positions on cyber security internationally

Membership

CFDIR industry membership is by invitation-only and includes private sector organizations with significant business activities in the ICT sector and considerable impact on the Canadian economy. Member organizations are represented by senior executives, such as Chief Technology Officers (CTO) and Chief Information Security Officers (CISO). As the forum evolves and needs arise, additional stakeholders may be added in the future, either as CFDIR members or as project specific experts.