Question Period Note: ADVANCING BORDER SECURITY

 A strong Canada means strong borders.
 Backed by an initial investment of $1.3 billion, we have made significant progress in recent months in making our border stronger and more secure, while ensuring an efficient flow of legitimate travel and trade.
 On October 8, we introduced the Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act, a new bill that advances key elements Canada’s border security, while providing time for further study of the more complex pieces.
 If passed, the new bill will keep Canadians safe by ensuring border and law enforcement can stop the flow of illegal fentanyl, crack down on money laundering, and enhance the integrity and fairness of our immigration system.
 This new bill will also enhance information sharing across federal, provincial, and municipal partners, strengthening Canada’s national security while continuing to protect Canadians’ privacy rights.
If pressed
 We also continue to believe that it is critically important to modernize law enforcement and intelligence agencies lawful access to communications to protect Canadians.
 C-2 will advance these efforts. The government looks forward to working with opposition members and other key stakeholders, including privacy and civil rights experts, in order to identify balanced solutions that bolster public safety while respecting the privacy of Canadians.

o Backed by an investment of $1.3 billion, Canada’s Border Plan is bolstering border security, strengthening our immigration system, and contributing to ensuring Canada’s future prosperity.

Canada’s Border Plan
o The Government of Canada announced a significant investment of $1.3 billion to enhance border security and strengthen the immigration system. This plan, unveiled in December 2024, focuses on five key pillars:
• Detecting and Disrupting the Fentanyl Trade: Enhanced support for law enforcement agencies, including new Artificial Intelligence and imaging tools, additional dog detection teams, and new chemical detection tools at high-risk ports of entry.
• Introducing Significant New Tools for Law Enforcement: Deployment of an Aerial Intelligence Task Force with helicopters, drones, and mobile surveillance towers, along with counter-drone technology.
• Enhancing Operational Coordination: Increased information sharing and collaboration between Canadian and U.S. officials, along with the creation of regional enforcement hubs and a North American Joint Strike Force, will enhance the targeting and disruption of organized crime and illegal border activities.
• Increasing Information Sharing: Enhanced information and intelligence sharing with Federal, Provincial, and Territorial authorities, the U.S., and international partners to better identify, monitor, and intercept high-risk individuals and goods moving between countries.
• Minimizing Unnecessary Border Volumes: Implementation of changes to end “flagpoling,” amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for greater control over immigration documents, new restrictions on non-cooperative countries, and maintenance of the Safe Third Country Agreement to strengthen immigration and asylum systems while collaborating with the U.S. to protect border integrity and combat illegal activities.
o The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) was provided over $355 million through the Border Plan over a six-year period. So far, as part of this investment:
• As of December 2025, through Budget 2025 and the Border Plan, four chemists, and two engineers have been hired, and 54 border services officer trainees (36 through the border Plan, 18 through budget 2025) and 3 detector dog teams are in training. The CBSA has spent over $1 million to create Special Investigation and Examination for Greater Enforcement (SIEGE) capacity. This included Operation Blizzard, a month-long, cross-country operation to intercept fentanyl and other illegal drugs at the border, resulting in over 2,600 seizures of narcotics and precursors. The Agency will continue to allocate funding for these targeted operations in the weeks and months ahead.
• The CBSA has spent $6.25 million for Large Scale Imaging (X-ray) systems and committed another $31 million for a range of other equipment. The CBSA is also in the process of procuring new detection technology tools that will enhance our ability to detect and identify illegal synthetic drugs and precursor chemicals at the border. These investments include imaging and trace detection tools, regional satellite laboratories, and handheld chemical analyzers, with an additional $24 million of equipment planned for delivery in 2026, and more in the following years.
• The CBSA has worked closely with other law enforcement partners to disrupt the activities of organized crime groups, including those involved in extortion activities, by leveraging our authorities under the Customs Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
• The CBSA removed over 18,000 inadmissible people last fiscal year – the most in a decade. The Border Plan provides funding for the CBSA to increase the rate at which it removes inadmissible people from Canada, to complete 20,000 removals for each of the next two fiscal years. To reach this target, the CBSA has hired approximately 30 additional frontline personnel, allowing for an increase in the number of interviews with inadmissible foreign nationals facing removal from Canada. The Agency is taking steps toward meeting its commitment to completing 20,000 removals by March 31, 2026, and maintaining that cadence the following fiscal year. More information and statistics on removals are available online: CBSA removals program statistics.
o This comprehensive plan aims to bolster security, improve the efficiency of the immigration system, and ensure the safety and prosperity of Canadians.
o The Government of Canada appointed Kevin Brosseau, former Deputy Commissioner of the RCMP and former Deputy National Security and Intelligence Advisor to the Prime Minister, as Commissioner of Canada’s Fight Against Fentanyl (informally known as the Fentanyl Czar).

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