The Criminal Code of Canada and the Copyright Act contain provisions that deal with computer and telecommunication crime. The Scope of the Problem Owing to the technical nature of computer and telecommunication crime, law enforcement personnel must be properly trained to conduct such investigations. The Canadian Police College offers three different computer crime courses covering everything from search and seizure of computer systems to examination of computers for evidence. These courses are available to any police agency in Canada as well as to some foreign investigative agencies. Computer and telecommunication crime is a global problem.
Offenses can transcend national boundaries and very often do.
For this reason, the RCMP maintains contact with computer crime investigators around the world including investigators in the United States and Great Britain. Statistics on computer crime and telecommunications crime are difficult to accumulate primarily due to reluctance on the part of victims to report such crime and the many different jurisdictions in Canada. However, with growing economic losses to victims, more crimes are being reported to police. Recent losses in relation to telecommunications crimes have been very large. Some computer criminals operate on an international scale and in an organized fashion.