Canada Border Services Agency
2024 to 2025 Departmental Plan at a glance

Departmental results:

• The CBSA’s intelligence, threat and risk assessment activities contribute to the identification, mitigation and neutralization of risks and threats to the safety, security and prosperity of Canadians and Canada
• Admissible travellers are processed in an efficient manner
• Travellers and their goods are compliant with applicable legislation
• Admissible commercial goods and conveyances are processed in an efficient manner
• Traders are compliant with applicable legislation and requirements
• Importers comply with revenue requirements
• Canadian producers are protected from unfairly dumped and subsidized imports
• Trusted Traveller and Trader programs increase processing efficiency of low-risk, pre-approved travellers and traders
• Travellers and the business community have access to timely redress mechanisms

Planned activities for 2024 to 2025:

• Combat the cross-border movement of firearms and illicit drugs, including synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, through joint efforts with law enforcement partners such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Five Eyes allies, along with enhanced tools for detection and examination, and training programs for officers and detector dogs.
• Deliver Release 2 of the CARM project to transform the collection of duties and taxes for imported goods.
• Enhance immigration security screening processes to identify inadmissible persons seeking entry into Canada, including efforts under the Security Screening Automation project.
• Enhance intelligence and enforcement capabilities, with a focus on human trafficking and fraudulent immigration consultants, for the purposes of identifying vulnerable persons and leads for criminal investigations.
• Advance a multi-year suite of Traveller Modernization initiatives, with a view to expanding the availability of digital technology and self-service tools to expedite the movement of travellers through the border.
• Pursue opportunities for preclearance operations in both the traveller and commercial streams to facilitate the cross-border flow of legitimate people and goods as early as possible in the travel and trade continuum.
• Address the continual rise in e-commerce volumes through the Agency’s E Commerce Customs Strategy, including automated processing in the courier low value stream.
• Expand interview capacity at NEXUS enrollment centres, while also advancing the necessary program requirements to deploy additional NEXUS eGates across the country, in order to facilitate the border experience for trusted travellers.
• Continue modernizing frontline recruitment and retention efforts through an updated strategy that focuses on strategic recruitment in support of Agency priorities and workforce renewal.
• Continue the Gordie Howe International Bridge Project and the Land Border Crossing Project with the goal of modernizing Canada’s border infrastructure.
• Continue efforts in support of the Government’s commitment to Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, including through engagement with the Jay Treaty Border Alliance.

More information about the CBSA’s core responsibility of border management can be found in the full departmental plan.

Departmental results:

• Immigration investigations identify persons inadmissible to Canada
• Persons are placed on alternatives to detention whenever possible, or placed in the most appropriate detention facility according to their risk profile
• The Minister’s positions are appropriately represented in immigration and refugee decision-making processes
• Inadmissible foreign nationals are prioritized and removed expeditiously from Canada
• People and businesses that are referred to Crown counsel for prosecution are convicted

Planned activities for 2024 to 2025:

• Focus inland investigative resources on high-risk cases, with the highest priorities being criminality, organized criminality, human and international rights violations, and national security, while advancing joint efforts with federal partners to improve operational coordination on irregular migration.
• Continue efforts to improve Canada’s immigration detention system in line with the National Immigration Detention Framework, with a focus on ensuring that detention is used as a measure of last resort and that alternatives to detention are always considered.
• Continue efforts to enhance removal operations for inadmissible persons, which include using a national triage model, prioritizing high-priority removals, increasing travel document applications, and operating the Removals Help Line to encourage more voluntary removals.
• Uphold commitments under the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking through efforts to assess existing legislative and regulatory frameworks, with a view to ensuring that sufficient protections are in place for victims.
• Continue supporting immigration measures for those affected by the unjustifiable and illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine, while also working with federal partners to enforce sanctions in response to the Russian invasion and commission of human rights violations.

More information about the CBSA’s core responsibility of border enforcement can be found in the full departmental plan.

Planned activities for 2024 to 2025:

• Improve the Agency’s management practices, with a particular focus on procurement, in order to address process gaps, enhance controls, and strengthen oversight and assurance mechanisms.
• Continue implementing the Agency’s People Management Strategy to support the delivery of high-quality human resources programs and services.
• Implement the Agency’s new Wellness Strategy to promote employee wellbeing across the organization.
• Continue efforts to ensure a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects Canada’s population.
• Continue providing effective communications to support Agency activities and keep the public well-informed.