Prosecutions and Seizures

Northern Ontario Region

Pigeon River port of entry monthly enforcement highlights

Pigeon River, Ontario, May 2, 2012 — The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) facilitates the entry of legitimate travellers and goods, while protecting the safety and security of Canadians and ensuring that Canada's borders are not used for illegal activity. This work is carried out by CBSA border services officers (BSOs) who ensure that the people, goods and conveyances entering Canada meet all requirements and are compliant with Canadian law.

In March 2012, CBSA officers at the Pigeon River port of entry (POE) processed 42,114 travellers in 20,876 vehicles, as well as 394 commercial drivers. This represents a 3 percent increase in Canadian travellers, a 3 percent decrease in foreign travellers and a 7.5 percent increase in vehicles from the same period last year.

Immigration

In March 2012, CBSA officers at the Pigeon River POE conducted 339 immigration examinations. As a result, 19 individuals were issued immigration documents (such as work permits, study permits, temporary resident permits to name but a few) while three individuals were reported for their inadmissibility and eight were given the option of voluntarily withdrawing their application to enter Canada and were allowed to leave due to criminality or other inadmissibility issues. Additionally, two foreign nationals became permanent residents of Canada.

On March 9, a lone U.S. resident arrived at the Pigeon River POE seeking entry to Canada for three weeks to tour colleges and universities in the Thunder Bay area. The traveller was referred for an immigration examination where officers determined that he was an active member of the U.S. Military and was currently absent from his base without leave. The individual admitted that he had deserted the U.S. Military and was escorted back to the U.S.

Customs

During the month of March, BSOs at the Pigeon River POE conducted 814 secondary examinations for customs purposes or for other government departments, initiated six seizure actions for various offences and issued an additional six written warnings for undeclared or undervalued goods.

Officer Powers

On March 20, a U.S. resident provided a breath sample for analysis to determine his blood alcohol content and the test resulted in a warning. Officers at the Pigeon River POE also discovered that the individual had two previous Driving Under the Influence convictions in the U.S. He was given the option of voluntarily withdrawing his application to enter Canada and returned to the U.S. due to his criminal inadmissibility.

Travel Tips

After an absence of 24 hours, you may bring back $50 worth of goods duty- and tax-free; after 48 hours, your personal exemption is $400; and after an absence of seven days, you are entitled to $750 worth of duty- and tax-free goods. There are no personal exemptions for same-day purchases.

Reminder: The following personal exemption changes will take effect on June 1, 2012: After an absence of 24 hours, you may bring back $200 worth of goods duty- and tax-free; after 48 hours, your personal exemption will be $800. There will be no exemptions for same-day travel.

The CBSA reminds travellers to truthfully declare all purchases and goods received outside of Canada upon their return. Smuggling, undervaluation and other Customs Act offences may lead to seizure and/or prosecution in a court of law. The CBSA keeps a record of infractions in its computer system. If you have an infraction record, you may have to undergo a more detailed examination on future trips.

In addition, new regulations are now in place to facilitate the entry of certain foreign nationals who do not meet the requirements to overcome their criminal inadmissibility to be allowed to enter Canada with a one-time only, fee-exempt temporary resident permit. For more information, please visit the Citizenship and Immigration Canada Web site.

Please refer to the I Declare brochure on the CBSA Web site for more information.

30-

For media information
Caroline Desjarlais
Communications
Canada Border Services Agency
613-991-1591