Secret and Top Secret clearances should only be given when needed. A while back there was a review of levels held and people that no longer required the level were reduced. Some clerks I worked with that held TS from their prior job were reduced to secret. Trades have a minimum base level required and then some positions will have a higher requirement. Clerks require secret (last I looked) as a base and when we are employed in a position requiring TS we then apply.When we leave that position unless the new one requires TS the level is supposed to be reduced back to secret.
NDSP spells it out:
36.13 Only those personnel who cannot perform their job without access to classified material are to be security cleared. Such persons will be cleared only to the level to which they must have regular access. Security clearance levels may be justified by:
a. employment in a position designated on the Establishment Document as requiring a level of clearance. Each established position within the DND and CF shall be annotated on the automated establishment records (AERs) to reflect the level of screening required. Authorities shall ensure that the screening requirements of each position in their establishment are identified and formally recorded and that an annual review is conducted to identify changes required. Subsequent changes are to be made by, Establishment Change Proposals (ECPs), reflecting altered position relationships or circumstances. The covering page of every job description is to identify the requirement for screening. For civilian positions, such information will be recorded on the Classification Action Form (TB330-167) for input to the Civilian Personnel Information System (CPIS). Screening requirements shall reflect only the minimum screening demanded to permit the incumbent to perform the job described. Screening for access beyond regular and consistent requirements constitutes unjustified intrusion into the privacy of an individual and is not economical and cannot be authorized. Standards become more stringent in the following sequence:
1. Level I security clearance,
2. Level II security clearance, and
3. Level II security clearance with special or compartmental access permitted.
b. attendance on a training course or a conference which is designated as requiring the subject level of clearance; or
c. service in a military occupational code, and at a rank level which is designated in the MOC requirements list as requiring the subject level of clearance.
36.14 In order to meet the CF requirement for mobility of personnel, a security clearance is recognized as justified for any rank level in a MOC for which over 80 per cent of the positions are designated as requiring the subject security clearance level. MOC requirements are summarized yearly in the update programme package.
The fact that you are interested in a job requiring a level does not justify granting that level. If you are offered the job then a clearance request should be processed.
