Public Prosecution Service of Canada

Public Prosecution Service of Canada

Service des poursuites pénales du Canada
Agency overview
Formed	2006 (2006)
Preceding	Federal Prosecution Service
Jurisdiction	Canada
Headquarters	160 Elgin Street – 12th Floor, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0H8
Employees	1040 170 private-sector law firms 432 individually appointed lawyers
Annual budget	$201,300,000 (2018–19)[1]
Minister responsible	Hon. Arif Virani, Attorney General of Canada
Agency executive	Kathleen Roussel, Director of Public Prosecutions
Key document	Director of Public Prosecutions Act
Website	www.ppsc-sppc.gc.ca

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC; French: Service des poursuites pénales du Canada (SPPC)) was established on December 12, 2006, by the Director of Public Prosecutions Act.^[2] A federal agency, the PPSC prosecutes offences on behalf of the Government of Canada. It is responsible to Parliament through the attorney general of Canada, who litigates on behalf of the Crown and has delegated most prosecution functions to the PPSC.

The director of public prosecutions – currently Kathleen Roussel – leads the day-to-day operations of the PPSC and is responsible to the attorney general, holding a rank equivalent to a deputy minister.^[3]

For non-provincial or federal cases in Canada, a senior general counsel (Criminal Law) is assigned from the PPSC, an office of the Attorney General of Canada. The headquarters of the service is located in Ottawa, Ontario.