Avoiding complicity in mistreatment by foreign entities: Annual report
Table of contents
Introduction
The Canada Border Services Agency (the CBSA or the Agency) was established by the Canada Border Services Agency Act and is an integral part of the Public Safety Portfolio.
The Agency is responsible for providing integrated border services that support national security and public safety and facilitate the free flow of persons and goods. Information sharing with domestic and international partners is essential for the successful execution of its mandate and mission.
This report is presented to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (the Minister) in accordance with subsection 7(1) of the Avoiding Complicity in Mistreatment by Foreign Entities Act (ACA, or ‘the Act'). It provides an overview of the Agency's information sharing practices; provides an update on the implementation of the Agency's policy in support of the Order in Council (the OiC) – Directions for Avoiding Complicity in Mistreatment by Foreign Entities, and indicates the number of substantial risk cases and restrictions to any written arrangement or agreement due to concerns of mistreatment for the period of to .
Background
The Act came into force on and requires the Governor in Council to issue written directions to deputy heads regarding:
- the disclosure of information to any foreign entity that would result in a substantial risk of mistreatment of an individual
- the making of requests for information to any foreign entity that would result in a substantial risk of mistreatmentFootnote 1 of an individual, and
- the use of information that is likely to have been obtained through the mistreatmentFootnote 2 of an individual by a foreign entity
On , the Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister, pursuant to paragraph 3(2)(f) of the Act, issued the OiC – Directions for Avoiding Complicity in Mistreatment by Foreign Entities to the President of the CBSA.
Pursuant to the OiC, the President of the CBSA must, before March 1 of each year, submit to the appropriate Minister a report in respect of the implementation of those directions during the previous calendar year.
Information sharing practices and written arrangements and agreements
The CBSA relies on information to execute its border management responsibilities safely and efficiently. The Agency collects, retains, and shares information strictly within the parameters of its border management mandate, as set out by CBSA program legislation.
The CBSA's information sharing activities can be characterized as follows:
- The CBSA is a net consumer of information. The majority of the information used by the Agency is derived from private sector stakeholders (such as air carriers or commercial transport companies) or collected during the customs and immigration processes. This information is provided to the CBSA under regulatory requirements and allows the Agency to make timely, risk-based decisions on the admissibility of people and goods attempting to enter Canada. Individuals and private sector stakeholders also provide information to the CBSA when engaging in one of its ‘trusted' programs (e.g., Trusted Traveller or Trusted Trader).
- In order to effectively identify and manage higher-risk cases, the CBSA augments regulatory information with information received from partner agencies, namely Public Safety Canada (PS); the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP); the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS); Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC); the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA); the Department of National Defence (DND); Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC); Global Affairs Canada (GAC), and Transport Canada (TC).
- As outlined in the Agency's legislative authorities, and mirrored in the CBSA's policies and operational guidance, the CBSA primarily conducts information sharing activities with domestic and international partners in cases where the activity is permissible under the Customs Act or the Privacy Act. These exchanges are typically well codified in various written arrangements and agreements.
- Liaison Officers (LOs) located abroad work directly with foreign partners and represent the CBSA in an international context. For the International Network of officers, the International Operations Division (IOD), located in headquarters, is the main point of contact for guidance and support for all program-related enquiries, including information sharing requests. LOs routinely lawfully exchange information with various foreign entities, as per various policies, legislation, and written arrangements and agreements.
Although the CBSA has numerous partnerships and manages a substantial amount of information, given the context described above, its administrative information sharing activities are generally low-risk in terms of possible association with mistreatment.
The CBSA recognizes that one of its key responsibilities is to be a steward of the information in its control. In line with the OiC, the CBSA implemented measures to enhance its management of information sharing activities.
Implementation of the directions
Updated policies, guidance, and procedures
The CBSA has maintained its Policy on the Order in Council to the CBSA: Avoiding Complicity in Mistreatment by Foreign Entities (the policy), since publication on . This policy replaced the previous Policy and Operational Guidelines pertaining to the 2017 Ministerial Directive (MD) to the CBSA.
Under the policy, CBSA officials are directed to consult the Privacy & Information Sharing Policy (PISP) Division within the Chief Privacy Office (CPO) for general information sharing questions and the Intelligence and Targeting Policy and Support Division (ITPSD) for questions pertaining to the risks associated with disclosing, requesting, or using information from a specific international entity.
The policy is located within the CBSA's Information Sharing Toolkit and is accessible to employees across the Agency via the CBSA intranet.
PISP, in collaboration with ITPSD and IOD, prepared additional awareness and outreach activities that took place across the Agency during the 2024 calendar year. To ensure consistency in the ACA application, the CBSA, via its CPO, utilizes a Mandatory Tracking Form (MTF) for officials to complete when making disclosures that have a mandatory external reporting requirement. These disclosures include, but are not limited to, lawful authorities under section 107 of the Customs Act and section 8 of the Privacy Act. The MTF also captures whether a disclosure has resulted in the ACA being engaged.
The Compliance, Reporting, Operational Support and Statistics (CROSS) Unit, under IOD, provided guidance to CBSA officials regarding best practices and conducted quality assurance for LOs' information disclosure records to enhance quality documentation. CROSS also coordinated with subject matter experts and LOs to address queries related to ACA information sharing requests concerning various foreign entities. Activities in this area included consultations with PISP and the ITPSD.
Interdepartmental coordination
While developing and maintaining the policy in support of the OiC, the CBSA has ensured that it is applying a compatible and complementary approach to that of other federal partners in terms of how it assesses risk associated with its information sharing activities with foreign entities.
In line with this approach, the CBSA continues to be an active participant in the Public Safety-led Information Sharing Coordination Group (ISCG). The ISCG is the primary interdepartmental forum for supporting interdepartmental collaboration and information sharing between members as they implement the Act and the corresponding Directions.
The three primary objectives of ISCG are to:
- Establish best practices
- Share information
- Coordinate the development of policy documents and responses for inter-departmental issues
In , the CBSA established an ACA Working Group consisting of IRCC and CBSA representatives to address common concerns pertaining to the ACA. The approved terms of reference for this working group, outline objectives such as sharing best practices and risk rating situations with common elements.
Country profiles
The CBSA's Intelligence Collection, Analysis and Production (ICAP) Division developed and continues to maintain Serious Inadmissibility & Mistreatment Country Assessments (SIMCAs) which capture and reflect the security, organized crime, and human rights environment in identified countries of concern. During the reporting period, ICAP produced 3 of SIMCAs.
SIMCAs provide the basis for the CBSA's Country and Foreign Entity Mistreatment Risk Assessment process as part of its responsibilities under the ACA and related OiC.
The mistreatment risk assessment (MRA) process assesses the country or entity risk rating in relation to the ACA. SIMCAs are considered for each MRA.
CBSA officials are instructed to contact ITPSD if they have questions pertaining to the risk levels of certain countries.
Risk mitigation and mistreatment risk assessment
The CBSA establishes the level of the risk associated with a given information sharing activity by simultaneously considering the level of mistreatment risk associated with the intended recipient of the information, as well as the sensitivity of the information to be disclosed. Information sharing activities may only proceed in cases where there is no substantial risk of mistreatment, and/or risks that might be present can be adequately mitigated.
Senior Management Risk Assessment Committee
In instances where there is a desire for an information sharing activity to proceed, but there is substantial risk that cannot be mitigated at the working level, the ITPSD will convene a Director General-level SMRAC meeting and accordingly prepare a risk assessment package for consideration.
The risk assessment package includes the ACA Consultation Request Form, SIMCA, the MRA, the ITPSD operational determination, and any additional related documentation or research. Consultations with Departmental Legal Services, PISP, and ICAP will be conducted to ensure all relevant input is incorporated into the risk assessment package.
SMRAC processes the available information in order to determine if a given information sharing activity may result in mistreatment, or if information may have been derived through some form of mistreatment. In exceptional circumstances, SMRAC may refer the decision to the President for action. It should be noted that no cases were referred to the President during the 2024 calendar year.
After considering the information contained within the package, there are four potential outcomes:
- If SMRAC determines that information sharing with a foreign entity will likely lead to the mistreatment of an individual, or it is likely that the information received from a foreign entity was obtained as a result of mistreatment, SMRAC will provide a negative information sharing opinion, indicating that the information cannot be shared or used.
- In the event that SMRAC is unable to reach a decision as to whether or not the information sharing activity could result in a substantial risk of mistreatment, or if they are unable to determine if the foreign entity had obtained the information as a result of mistreatment, SMRAC will refer the case to the President of the CBSA for consideration.
- If SMRAC determines that information sharing with a foreign entity may result in a substantial risk of mistreatment, or if there is a risk that the foreign entity obtained the information as a result of mistreatment, but these risks have been sufficiently mitigated, SMRAC will provide a positive information sharing opinion, indicating that the information may be shared or used.
- If SMRAC determines that the information sharing with a foreign entity is not likely to lead to the mistreatment of an individual, or if the information received from an entity was likely not obtained as a result of mistreatment, SMRAC will provide a positive information sharing opinion, indicating that the information may be shared or used.
Notwithstanding the outcome of SMRAC deliberations, the ITPSD will prepare a record of decision and provide it to the CBSA official who had initially requested their assistance.
If it is determined that the CBSA will not release the information, the ITPSD will provide a draft response explaining the decision to the originating CBSA official for onward transmission to the requestor. In cases where the disclosure is approved, the originating CBSA official will proceed with the information release or exchange.
SMRAC process complements existing CBSA information sharing policies and procedures in order to maximize operational efficiency while ensuring that the CBSA adheres to the requirements of the OiC.
Training
In addition to the virtual “Introduction to CBSA Information Sharing”, available to employees via the CBSA intranet, the CBSA also provided a total of 15 general information sharing training sessions to 231 employees during the reporting period.
CBSA officials regularly involved in information sharing activities, or those whose responsibilities may bring them into information sharing scenarios, have access to additional information sharing training tailored to their particular roles and responsibilities. This approach ensures that training received is commensurate with the level of potential risk associated with a given role.
During , IOD's Functional Development team administered the LO Induction Training Program (LOITP), which includes a section dedicated to the ACA. This training was delivered by subject matter experts within CROSS and PISP.
The CBSA is currently in the process of modernizing the current online training that will include expanded content related to the ACA. Specifically, the new version will include in-depth guidance related to ACA disclosure and reporting requirements (e.g. the difference of considered vs engaged), and will direct users to relevant information sharing policies, directives, and applicable working tools.
Activity report
This report describes OiC related activities undertaken by the CBSA between and .
Engagements of the OiC
Per the table below, within the aforementioned reporting period, the CBSA had no cases of disclosure, request, or use of information requiring additional risk assessment or referral for Presidential Determination.
| Type of case: | Disclosure of information | Request for information | Use of information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of cases requiring Deputy Minister Determination: | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Restriction of arrangements
The CBSA did not have any cases of restrictions being applied to any written arrangement or agreement due to concerns related to mistreatment within the aforementioned reporting period.
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