The Canada Border Services Agency

The Prime Minister of Canada announced the creation of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on December 12, 2003. The CBSA is part of the new portfolio of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (PSEP), which includes the core functions of crisis and emergency management, national security, policing and law enforcement, corrections and conditional release, crime prevention, critical infrastructure protection, and border services and integrity.

The CBSA centralizes, in one organization, a wealth of experience, skill and innovation in border management, which will lead to greater efficiencies and a more integrated response to potential threats to Canada's security. In this way, the CBSA builds on the success of the Canada-United States Smart Border Declaration and is an integral component of Canada's National Security Policy.

The CBSA brings together all the major players involved in facilitating and managing the movement of people and goods into and out of Canada. It integrates several key functions previously spread among three organizations: the Customs program from the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency; the Intelligence, Interdiction and Enforcement program, and the Immigration program at ports of entry from Citizenship and Immigration Canada; and the Import Inspection at Ports of Entry program from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

As an integrated border management agency, the CBSA facilitates legitimate cross-border traffic and supports economic development while stopping people and goods that pose a potential risk to Canada. The CBSA's role is to manage the nation's borders by administering and enforcing approximately 90 domestic acts and regulations, as well as international agreements that govern trade and travel. To fulfil its mandate, the CBSA works in partnership with business, with other Government of Canada departments and agencies, and with the governments of other countries.

The CBSA provides an essential service as the first line of defence in managing the movement of people and goods into and out of Canada. All people and goods entering Canada, whether by air, land or sea, must report to the CBSA at a port of entry. With a workforce of approximately 11,000 public servants, the CBSA operates at 1,369 service points across Canada and 39 locations abroad. At some of its busiest locations, the CBSA operates on a 24/7 basis.

Among the threats addressed by the CBSA are terrorism; illegal migration; illegal trade of weaponry, drugs and unsafe goods and foodstuffs; and the attempted introduction of contaminants and threats to public health. The CBSA is also mandated to prevent the admission into Canada of persons involved in war crimes or crimes against humanity, to assist in combating money laundering, and to conduct the detention and removal from Canada of inadmissible persons.

The Agency serves more than 170,000 commercial importers and approximately 92 million travellers every year. It processes over 71 million highway travellers, 18 million air travellers, 276,000 rail passengers, 2.9 million marine passengers, and over 11 million commercial releases annually, totalling some $350 billion in value. In 2003, the CBSA kept over $400 million worth of drugs off Canadian streets, dealt with over 3,600 Criminal Code incidents at the borders, conducted nearly 30,000 immigration investigations, and detained over 11,500 persons for immigration infractions. It also collected over $3.3 billion in import duties and $22 billion in GST.

The President of the CBSA reports directly to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, the Honourable Anne McLellan. The President of the CBSA is supported in his duties by an Executive Vice-President. The Agency is comprised of seven branches, each led by a vice-president who reports directly to the President and Executive Vice-President. The seven branches are: Strategy and Coordination; Admissibility; Enforcement; Innovation, Science and Technology; Operations; Human Resources; and Comptrollership.

Summary of CBSA Responsibilities

• Promoting and facilitating a level playing field for legitimate travellers and trade
• Ensuring that all travellers coming into Canada are admissible, and comply with Canadian laws and regulations
• Processing all commercial shipments that cross Canada's ports of entry to ensure Canadian laws and regulations are adhered to, that no illegal goods enter or exit the country, and that related trade statistics are accurate
• Ensuring that all applicable duties and taxes are paid
• Interdicting inadmissible people and goods and detaining migrants who may pose a threat to Canada
• Removing persons who have been determined to be inadmissible to Canada
• Ensuring food safety, and plant and animal health, by identifying and interdicting high-risk, regulated commodities at air, land and sea ports.

For more information about the CBSA and its programs and services, visit the Web site at www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca.

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