ANDREW KIRSCH

Speaker, Author, and Consultant on issues of physical, cyber and national Security

OFFICIAL SITE OF ANDREW KIRSCH

Speaker, Author, and Consultant on issues of physical, cyber and national Security

OFFICIAL SITE OF ANDREW KIRSCH

Speaker, Author, and Consultant on issues of physical, cyber and national Security

Former Canadian Spy stories and training in Security and Intelligence

About Andrew

My name is Andrew Kirsch and I believe that we all have an important role to play to keep each other safe. I've held many of these roles in an almost 20-year security career spanning the public and private sector; including serving for a decade with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). I am now a public speaker, author and consultant on issues of physical, national and cyber security. Drawing on lessons from my career; I want to lift the curtain on what Canada’s intelligence community does, the threats we face, and the challenges to come so we are all better prepared to protect ourselves, our communities, our companies and country

About Andrew

My name is Andrew Kirsch and I believe that we all have an important role to play to keep each other safe. I've held many of these roles in an almost 20-year security career spanning the public and private sector; including serving for a decade with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). I am now a public speaker, author and consultant on issues of physical, national and cyber security. Drawing on lessons from my career; I want to lift the curtain on what Canada’s intelligence community does, the threats we face, and the challenges to come so we are all better prepared to protect ourselves, our communities, our companies and country
Former Canadian Spy stories and training in Security and Intelligence
Former Canadian Spy stories and training in Security and Intelligence

About Andrew

My name is Andrew Kirsch and I believe that we all have an important role to play to keep each other safe. I've held many of these roles in an almost 20-year security career spanning the public and private sector; including serving for a decade with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). I am now a public speaker, author and consultant on issues of physical, national and cyber security. Drawing on lessons from my career; I want to lift the curtain on what Canada’s intelligence community does, the threats we face, and the challenges to come so we are all better prepared to protect ourselves, our communities, our companies and country

Clients I have worked with

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How I can help

SPEAKING

Invite Andrew to improve your company’s security awareness, and resilience. In the current threat landscape, it’s important that we all stay informed and vigilant. With entertaining stories from his career as a Canadian Spy Andrew engages, educates, and entertains his audience to teach us all about the threats we face and our role and responsibility we all have to keep each other safe.
BOOK ANDREW

BOOK

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a spy? In his bestselling memoir – I Was Never Here – Andrew provides a look behind the curtain of Canada’s Spy Service. In what Publisher’s weekly calls “…a surprisingly lighthearted look at a shadowy but vital government function” he reveals what the Canadian Security intelligence Service (CSIS) is, what it does and what it’s really like to work there.
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CONSULTING

The world is a scary place, and it can be a challenge to keep your information, assets, and people you love safe. Sometimes you don’t know where to start or lack the skills or resources needed to solve the issue. Drawing on experience from his national security career, and the network of professionals he’s met along the way you can trust Andrew and the Kirsch Group to be your security partner.
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SPEAKING

“Security can be a sometimes scary and overwhelming topic – but in informative and entertaining presentations we will raise awareness of the challenges we face and strategies on how to mitigate risks and do our part to keep each other safe”.

TOPIC ONE: What Canada’s Spy Service does and why you need to know more about it!

Former Canadian Spy Andrew Kirsch gives a rarely seen peak behind the curtain of Canada’s intelligence agency. He explains what the Canadian Security Intelligence Service is, what it’s really like to work there, and why it’s important that you know more about it! 

Canada is perceived as a safe country. But that isn’t an accident, and it isn’t guaranteed to continue. We face very real security threats, as individuals, companies and a country. Whatever security we enjoy is not because there aren’t bad people out to get us; but because everyday men and women in our national security community do their part to keep it that way. And now, more than ever, they need all our help. 

Andrew shares some entertaining stories from his national bestselling memoir I Was Never Here: My True Canadian Spy Story of Coffees Code Names and Covert Operations in the Age of Terrorism, to explain the threats Canada faces, the challenges to come and the role we all must play to keep each other safe.

TOPIC TWO: When the chips are down are you ready to make the tough decisions

Former Canadian Spy Andrew Kirsch gives a rarely seen peak behind the curtain of Canada’s spy agency. In a ten-year career he held roles as a policy analyst, a field investigator, ultimately leading teams on clandestine warranted special operations. Whether tracking suspected terrorists or planting covert technical surveillance equipment late into the night he was faced with many challenging decisions that had severe national security consequences. In those tense moments all of his leadership and problem-solving skills were put to the test. 

While his career was unique, finding solutions to difficult problems when the stakes are high and pressure is on, is a challenge we all face on a daily basis. Through entertaining stories from his career and bestselling memoir I Was Never Here: My True Canadian Spy Story of Coffees Code Names and Covert Operations in the Age of Terrorism, Andrew shares the events and lessons he learned from a career in spying. This includes the importance of effective communication, the honest assessment of resources and capabilities, how living our core values impacts trust, and ultimately the decision-making framework he came to rely on when making the toughest calls.

What people are saying

  • Your description of the activities that threaten us provided a valuable insight into an unfamiliar but critical subject.

    Doug McW.
    Retired executive

  • It was an important reminder to our members to stay vigilant to modern threats and risks.

    Tal T.
    UJA Security

  • We don’t often get to hear from former Canadian Spies with such openness, humility and candor.

    Rachel B.
    Emerging Leaders in Canadian Security (ELCS)

  • Andrew Kirsch makes a sometimes complex subject accessible with practical advice we can use.

    Michael L.
    FTI Consulting

  • He was engaging, interesting… and a little scary

    Carole H.
    Rotary Club

    Testimonials

    Here's what a few people are saying about Andrew Kirsch's presentations on Canadian National Security.

    Available Now

    I Was Never Here: My True Canadian Spy Story of Coffee’s Code Names and Covert Operations in the Age of Terrorism.
    In I Was Never Here, Andrew Kirsch spills the secrets of what life as an intelligence officer is really like—and dispels a few myths along the way. With humour, honesty, and candour, Kirsch shares his on-the-ground experience (or as much of it as he’s allowed to) of becoming a member of CSIS: from his vetting and training, to his initial desk job as a policy analyst, to his rise up the ranks leading covert special operations missions. If you’ve ever wondered whether spies can have real dating lives, how they handle family responsibilities, or how they come up with cover stories, you’re in luck.
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    National Bestseller #6 Canadian Nonfiction.
    Toronto Star
    National Bestseller #9 Hardcover nonfiction.
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    In International Security.
    In Espionage Biographies.
    In Government Intelligence.

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