Updates from Canadian Border Services Agency
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/01/31 (Unpublished)
Rebecca Purdy (she/her/elle) is a Senior Spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) intercepted three prohibited devices at Vancouver International Airport on April 26, 2024 as part of its mandate to screen goods entering and leaving Canada. While investigative details remain undisclosed, the CBSA collaborates with law enforcement agencies, including the RCMP, to combat smuggling and organized crime. Under Canada’s Border Plan, the government is investing $1.3 billion to enhance border security and immigration systems. The CBSA employs intelligence-led screening, detection tools, and international partnerships to prevent illegal goods and criminal activity while ensuring the safe and efficient flow of trade and travel across 1,200 ports of entry.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What were the circumstances of the Vancouver International Airport interception on April 26, 2024?
Rebecca Purdy: On April 26, 2024, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) border services officers at Vancouver International Airport Commercial Operations intercepted and seized three prohibited devices in a courier package. The CBSA has a mandate to screen goods entering and leaving Canada. All goods must be declared and each declaration is subject to a risk assessment. Border Services Officers are trained in examination techniques and use a risk management approach, state-of-the-art detection technologies and indicators to determine whether further examination is required.
Jacobsen: What actions were taken by the CBSA and the RCMP during the investigation?
Purdy: The CBSA does not comment on investigative steps in specific cases. For publicly available information on this case, please refer to the news release and the court record.
Jacobsen: On other subject matter, how does Canada’s Border Plan aim to address resource allocation issues at ports of entry? What mechanisms does the CBSA use to screen and intercept illegal goods? How do we detect and prevent illegal drugs from entering Canada under the new Plan?
Purdy: Canada is investing $1.3 billion to bolster security at the border and strengthen the immigration system, all while keeping Canadians safe. Information available on the plan is available here: The Government of Canada’s Border Plan: significant investments to strengthen border security and our immigration system – Canada.ca.
For additional information, including traveller statistics and seizure statistics, please see the 2024 Year in review: CBSA protecting Canadians and supporting our economy news release and the accomplishments by the numbers (for the period between January 1 and October 31, 2024).
Every day last year, billions of dollars in goods and services and about 400,000 people crossed the Canada-U.S. border. The CBSA is Canada’s first line of defence at 1,200 ports of entry across the country. Day in and day out, approximately 8,500 CBSA frontline personnel play a crucial role protecting our communities by preventing dangerous goods and people from entering Canada. Across the country, the CBSA employs over 200 criminal investigators who investigate individuals and businesses that commit serious offences against Canada’s border and criminal legislation. Abroad, the Agency employs approximately 60 international officers at 40 missions in 35 countries who help push our borders out. The CBSA strategically dedicates its resources to address the threats that Canada faces while supporting the flow of legitimate trade and travel across the border. The CBSA works in an operating environment that changes on a daily basis and we are ready to respond and adapt as needed.
As smugglers are increasingly utilizing more sophisticated concealment methods in smuggling attempts, the CBSA employs a number of tools to stem the flow of illegal and prohibited materials in and out of Canada. The Agency remains vigilant in the interdiction of prohibited firearms, weapons and illegal drugs to ensure they remain off the streets and out of local communities. Guided by intelligence, our officers use contraband detection tools such as handheld devices, small-scale and large-scale X-ray machines, and detector dogs. We prioritize and risk-assess importations and exportations of goods entering and leaving Canada to make sure they are properly declared and meet import/export requirements. We support efforts to combat organized crime by using a risk-management approach to identify and intercept shipments containing contraband or goods obtained through crime.
The CBSA works regularly and closely with domestic and U.S. law enforcement partners, including the RCMP and other Canadian police agencies, provincial and territorial governments, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Coast Guard, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in a joint effort to seize drugs and guns and prevent those who engage in criminal activity from entering Canada and to assist with investigations. The Agency regularly shares relevant information on border and national security issues with its national and international law enforcement partners as well as other government departments in Canada, to ensure the health, safety, and security of Canadians. The CBSA carefully monitors global trends and patterns to ensure that its frontline border services officers are well-equipped to identify and prevent illegal goods from entering and exiting Canada.
Criminals try to exploit the border both ways. U.S. authorities count on us in the same way we count on them to share information and identify threats to our countries. It is a tried and tested partnership that has kept our countries safe for decades.
With the collaboration of our partners, we support national security and public safety, while facilitating the free flow of legitimate trade and travel.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Rebecca.
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