Question Period Note: Asylum Claimants, Irregular Migration and the Safe Third Country Agreement

What the CBSA and RCMP are doing to work with United States Customs and Border Protection to combat smuggling routes through the United States to Canada and vice versa with a focus on Roxham Road.

CBSA and RCMP Collaboration:
• The Canada Border Services Agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police play an instrumental role in protecting Canada’s border, deterring and intercepting irregular entry to Canada and keeping Canadians safe.
• The CBSA, the RCMP and its domestic and international partners work together to intercept individuals who enter Canada irregularly.
• The RCMP is responsible for border security in between ports of entry, while the CBSA is responsible for border security at ports of entry and inland.
• The Government of Canada is in continuous contact with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. State Department on issues related to our shared border, including our desire to modernize the Safe Third Country Agreement.

RCMP Collaboration with the United States:
• The RCMP works closely with U.S. counterparts at the border in order to investigate attempted border crossings and irregular migration events, as well as monitoring volumes of northbound irregular migrants.

Border security and integrity is a shared mandate between the CBSA and the RCMP. The CBSA is responsible for enforcement at official Canadian ports of entry (POEs), while the RCMP is responsible for enforcement between POEs. The RCMP then escorts people crossing between the ports of entry to the nearest CBSA port of entry. The closest port of entry to Roxham Road is Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle.

The RCMP participates in numerous cross-border initiatives that allow for joint operations and investigations. Highly integrated and multi-modal cross-border teams investigate criminal threats to the Canada-U.S. border, including irregular migration. These teams allow for shared communications, improved response times to a border incursion, and enhanced investigative capacities.

In partnership with the CBSA, the RCMP works closely with U.S. law enforcement partners on irregular migration. Close collaboration with these partners allows for coordinated cross-border activities and advances investigations into irregular border crossings and human smuggling.

The STCA was signed in 2002 by Canada and the U.S. and has been in effect since December 2004. Under the STCA, people seeking refugee protection must make a claim in the first country they arrive in (U.S. or Canada), unless they qualify for an exception. People who are not eligible to make an asylum claim at the land port of entry under the STCA are immediately returned to the U.S.

Since 2017, the Government of Canada has been in continuous contact with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. State Department on issues related to our shared border, including our desire to modernize the STCA.

The STCA’s objectives

The primary objectives of the STCA are to enhance the orderly handling of refugee claims, strengthen public confidence in the integrity of our refugee systems, and share the responsibility for protecting people who fit the official definition of “refugees”.

The mandates behind the STCA

The CBSA and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) share a mandate of preserving the integrity of the immigration system. Together, the CBSA and IRCC administer the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), which governs the admissibility of people into Canada, and the identification, arrest, detention and removal of people who are inadmissible.

Who the STCA applies to

The STCA generally applies to asylum claimants who are seeking entry to Canada from the U.S. at a land port of entry. The Agreement does not apply to U.S. citizens and stateless persons residing in the U.S. or to those who arrive from the U.S. by air (with the exception of some people being deported from the U.S. through Canada), or by sea.

The Agreement does not apply to anyone who meets an Agreement exception, such as:
• people who have a family member in Canada;
• unaccompanied minors;
• people who hold a valid travel document issued by Canada or who are from a visa-exempt country for Canada but require a visa to enter the U.S.; and
• people who meet the public interest exception.

It also does not apply to claims made by people who entered Canada between ports of entry.

Recent Litigation - Federal Court of Appeal decision

The Federal Court rendered a decision on litigation challenging the STCA in July 2020. The Court found that the STCA and section 159.3 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations violated section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Government’s appeal and the cross appeal were heard by the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) in February 2021 and the decision was delivered on April 15, 2021.

The FCA upheld the validity of the Agreement and on June 14th, 2021, the Canadian Council for Refugees et al submitted their application for leave to appeal against the FCA decision to the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC). On December 16, 2021, the SCC granted the application for leave to appeal.

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