Creation of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)

Change is the only constant in the transportation industry. On December 12, 2003, the Customs Program of the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency was transferred to the new Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). This Update provides some basic information on the CBSA to raise awareness about this new Agency and its impact on the transportation industry in Canada.
The CBSA is part of the new portfolio of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, which includes emergency preparedness, crisis management, national security, corrections, policing, oversight, crime prevention, as well as border services. The CBSA brings together all the major players involved in facilitating and managing the movement of goods and people into Canada. It integrates several key functions previously spread among three organizations: the Customs Program from the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, the Intelligence, Interdiction and Enforcement program from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, and the Import Inspection at Ports of Entry program from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The CBSA's mandate is to manage the nation's borders by administering and enforcing about 75 domestic laws that govern trade and travel, as well as international agreements and conventions. The work of the CBSA includes:

• Processing commercial goods (including agriculture and food products), travelers, and conveyances, and identifying and interdicting high-risk individuals and goods;
• Conducting intelligence, such as screening visitors and immigrants and working with law enforcement agencies to maintain border integrity and ensure national security;
• Engaging in enforcement activities, including investigations, detentions, hearings, and removals;
• Supporting free trade negotiations; and
• Conducting compliance audit reviews and dumping and subsidy investigations.

The CBSA operates at over 490 air, sea, and land ports of entry across Canada. It employs over 8,900 public servants who serve 170,000 commercial importers and more than 98 million travelers each year. Each year, the CBSA is engaged in everything from reuniting more than 200 missing children with their families, to referring roughly 2.5 million people for secondary immigration inspections, to processing some 11 million commercial releases and 26 million courier shipments, to conducting seizures worth over $800 million and intercepting 57,200 prohibited food, plant, and animal products.