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Legislation

The CBSA administers more than 90 acts, regulations and international agreements on behalf of other federal departments and agencies, the provinces and the territories.

Among them are:

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Canada Border Services Agency Act

The Canada Border Services Agency Act establishes the CBSA, which was created by Order in Council on December 12, 2003. The Act sets out the responsibilities, mandate, powers, duties and functions of the Minister responsible for the Agency and its President.

Under this Act, the CBSA is responsible for providing integrated border services that support national security priorities and facilitate the free flow of persons and goods, including animals and plants, which meet all requirements under the program legislation.

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Customs Act

One of the key pieces of legislation governing the Canada Border Services Agency's (CBSA) mandate is the Customs Act.

The Customs Act was first enacted in 1867 to do the following:

  • ensure the collection of duties;
  • control the movement of people and goods into and out of Canada; and
  • protect Canadian industry from real or potential injury caused by the actual or contemplated import of dumped or subsidized goods and by other forms of unfair competition.

The Act is not a taxing statute. It provides legislative authority to administer and enforce the collection of duties and taxes that are imposed under separate taxing legislation, such as the Customs Tariff, the Excise Tax Act, the Excise Act and the Special Import Measures Act.

The Customs Act was revised in 1986 to maintain the original Act's three purposes and to allow for greater flexibility in new transportation, communication, trade and business practices. Since 1986, the Act has been amended several times in response to free trade and other related international agreements.

In June 2009, amendments were made to support the Government of Canada's strategy to strengthen security and facilitate trade. With these changes to the Customs Act, the CBSA will be able to strengthen the systems used for obtaining advance data on goods and people arriving in Canada and better manage risk at air and sea ports.

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Delegation Instruments

Provides the titles of the officials who are authorized to exercise powers or perform duties and functions of the Minister and/or the President in the program legislation and the Canada Border Services Agency Act (CBSA Act).

These documents have no official or legal sanction. They are intended solely for convenience of reference of CBSA officials or any person involved in the importation of goods. You can get an official copy of the delegation, or more information on delegation, by contacting us.

Delegations

The following instruments have been signed to delegate certain powers, duties and functions conferred on the Minister and/or the President under the CBSA Act or the program legislation.

Note: Due to the significant number of delegation and designation instruments that are required, new or revised instruments will be added as they are signed.

CBSA Act

Customs Act

Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

Agriculture and Agri-food Administrative Monetary Penalties Act

Copyright Act

Customs Tariff

  • Delegation [ HTML ]  [ PDF, 47 KB ]
  • Effective date: December 31, 1997

Special Import Measures Act

  • Delegation: Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
    [ HTML ]  [ PDF, 15 KB ]
  • Effective date: March 28, 2006

Trade-marks Act

Various statutory instruments

  • Delegation [ HTML ]  [ PDF, 13 KB ]
  • Effective date: October 28, 1999

Designations

The following instruments have been signed to designate officers to perform certain functions:

Customs Act

Various Agricultural Commodity Acts

Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

Note: All other designations of officers under IRPA are in the delegation instrument.

Historical Delegations

The following delegation instruments and authorities are no longer current. They have been archived online and are kept for historical and reference purposes.

CBSA Act

Customs Act

An Act to amend the Customs Act and the Criminal Code

Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

  • Delegation and Designation [ HTML ]  [ PDF, 266 KB ]
  • Effective date: April 1, 2010
  • Delegation and Designation [ HTML ]  [ PDF, 1.5 MB ]
  • Effective date: December 27, 2009
  • Delegation and Designation [ HTML ]  [ PDF, 263 KB ]
  • Effective date: April 13, 2007
  • Delegation and Designation [ HTML ]  [ PDF, 1.6 MB ]
  • Effective date: June 9, 2006
  • Delegation and Designation [ HTML ]  [ PDF, 1.4 MB ]
  • Effective date: April 4, 2006

Agriculture and Agri-food Administrative Monetary Penalties Act

  • Delegation [ HTML ]  [ PDF, 20 KB ]
  • Effective date: January 4, 2006

Canadian Food Inspection Agency Act

Special Import Measures Act

  • Delegation: President, Canada Border Services Agency
    [ HTML ]  [ PDF, 116 KB ]
  • Effective date: May 1, 2006

Historical Designations

Customs Act

Information

To obtain an official copy of a delegation or for more information on a delegation, please write to the following address:

Cabinet, Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division
Regulations Section
191 Laurier Avenue West
7th Floor
Ottawa ON  K1A 0L8

To access the Portable Document Format (PDF) version you must have a PDF reader installed. If you do not already have such a reader, there are numerous PDF readers available for free download or for purchase such as:

Date Modified: 2011-08-13

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