Top secret documents from Edward Snowden's cache have revealed Canada's ambition to become a big player in the world of electronic spying. The leak comes just as the country plans to vote on a law that would give its cyber agencies more powers.

A confidential presentation by Canada's intelligence agency Communications Security Establishment (CSE) dated 2011 was among the documents published jointly by the Canadian Broadcast Corporation and The Intercept, the website of investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald. In it, the counterpart of US National Security Agency (NSA) assures its Five Eyes allies – US, UK, Australia and New Zealand – that by 2015 it "will seek the authority to conduct a wide spectrum of Effects operations in support of our mandates."

The C-51 bill, which would relax Canada's stringent policing and intelligence regulations, is currently being pushed through parliament by the ruling Conservative party in the cause of combatting terrorism, but is facing spirited resistance, including filibusters from the opposition. Public demonstrations have also been staged against the legislation, which has been criticized as vague, shadowy and intrusive.