Canada has promised to implement a set of sweeping new security measures along the country’s US border, including strengthened surveillance and a joint “strike force” to target transnational organised crime and tighten rules against immigration at border.
The pledge follows a threat from President-elect Donald Trump to impose, when he takes office in January, a 25% tariff on Canadian goods if the country does not secure its shared border to the flow of irregular migrants and illegal drugs.
Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs, along with Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship announced Canada’s Border Plan. The plan will have an investment of $1.3 billion and is built around five pillars.
“We are investing in new tools and resources to address the threat of illegal synthetic drugs in driving the overdose crisis. To support law and border enforcement, our government is strengthening our regulatory controls and investing in drug analysis and intelligence. This is another important step in addressing the overdose crisis and keeping communities safe,” said Ya’ara Saks, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health.
Detecting and disrupting the fentanyl trade
The Government of Canada will increase support to law enforcement agencies in detecting, intercepting and addressing fentanyl and precursor chemicals by adding artificial intelligence and imaging tools that will further help detect illegal drugs before they enter Canada.
As well, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will train and deploy new canine teams to intercept illegal drugs. The agency currently has over 80 detector dog teams located at various ports of entry across Canada. CBSA will also deploy new chemical detection tools at high-risk ports of entry.
Health Canada will create a new Canadian Drug Profiling Centre to support 2,000 investigations a year, and expand capacity at regional labs.
By launching a new Chemical Precursor Risk Management Unit, Health Canada will be able to provide better insight into precursor chemicals and distribution channels, enhance monitoring and surveillance and enable timely law enforcement action.
In addition, Health Canada will accelerate the regulatory process for banning precursors so that border and law enforcement can take swift action to prevent their illegal importation and use.
Introducing significant new tools for law enforcement
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) will deploy a new Aerial Intelligence Task Force comprised of helicopters, drones, and mobile surveillance towers. Counter-drone technology will support RCMP officers and provide 24/7 surveillance between ports of entry.
As well, new legislative requirements proposed in the Fall Economic Statement 2024 will expressly obligate port owners and operators to provide the CBSA, free of charge, with the space and facilities needed to conduct export inspections, just as they currently do for imports.
In addition, the Government will invest to expand the RCMP and the Communications Security Establishment (CSE)’s intelligence collection capacity, enabling these agencies to target transnational organized crime and fentanyl trafficking more effectively.
Enhancing operational coordination
Increased information sharing between Canadian and United States (U.S.) officials on each illegal border interception enables officials to target and take stronger action against those who abuse our system, allowing for enhanced intelligence sharing in real time, monitoring of illegal migration trends and hot spots, improved operational interoperability, proactive resource planning and deployment, and ultimately, the targeting and disruption of organized crime groups facilitating illegal border crossings.
Increasing information sharing
The Government of Canada will build on our information and intelligence sharing between our federal, provincial, territorial authorities, the U.S. and other international partners.
Enhanced information sharing will allow authorities to identify, monitor and collaborate with partners to intercept high-risk individuals attempting to travel along with goods of interest attempting to move between countries.
Minimizing unnecessary border volumes
Government of Canada will implement changes to end ‘flagpoling’, which happens when a temporary resident leaves Canada and immediately returns to a port of entry to get immigration services. This practice uses significant resources at the border, distracts border officers from enforcement activities, and slows cross-border traffic.
The Government also proposed, in the Fall Economic Statement 2024, to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to secure and extend new authorities to cancel, change or suspend immigration documents and to cancel, suspend or stop accepting new applications, which would give Canada greater control over its immigration documents to protect Canadians and public resources. These authorities could also help prevent those who may pose a risk to Canada from entering the country and prevent further southbound irregular migration.
Additional measures include imposing new restrictions on countries that do not rapidly facilitate the return of their citizens in the event of fraudulent entry or a removal order.
The Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) and its Additional Protocol remain in place. People must claim asylum in the first country they enter – be it Canada or the U.S. This agreement mitigates against unlawful entry into either country, and maintains border integrity for both countries. Claimants that do not meet an exception or exemption to the STCA will be returned to the first safe country they entered, either Canada or the U.S.
