"I used to plant these things so I know where to look" - TSCM with former CSIS Special Operations Team Lead Andrew Kirsch.

Andrew Kirsch served as an intelligence officer with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) for just under a decade. He held roles as a policy analyst and a field investigator, ultimately leading teams on clandestine warranted special operations.  He is a proud former Canadian forces infantry army reservist serving as a Corporal in the Queens Own Rifles of Canada and Cameron Highlanders.

After Leaving CSIS Andrew was a founder member and first ever Department Security Officer (DSO) of Ontario’s Office of the Provincial Security Advisor with a mandate to enhance physical, personnel, information and network security across the Ontario Public Service (OPS). 

In the 2018 Ontario Provincial Election Andrew was the Progressive Conservative Candidate in the riding of Toronto-St. Paul’s. In 2020 he was appointed to the Ontario Expert Panel on Cyber Security, advising the government on strengthening cyber security practices in the broader public sector.

Currently Andrew is the President of Kirsch Group (KG) a boutique Risk Consultancy serving government, corporate and private clients. He leads a multidisciplinary team to identify risk and mitigate the types of physical and cyber security vulnerabilities he used to exploit in his national security career. Kirsch Group is a Veteran owned business and a member of the Inclusive Workspace and Supply Council of Canada.

 Andrew’s memoir, I Was Never Here: My True Canadian Spy Story of Coffee’s, Code Names, and Covert Operations in the Age of Terrorism was published March 1st 2022 and became an instant national bestseller reaching #6 and #9 on the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail Canadian and Hardcover Nonfiction lists. 

 Andrew holds a Certified Protection Professional (CPP) designation from ASIS International and is certified to Conduct Harmonized Threat Risk Assessments (HTRA) by the RCMP. He holds a Public Policy degree from Brown University.