Last week our government updated the details of our border plan. Canadians expect a government that protects our communities by keeping the borders strong, and a government that protects their livelihoods by doing everything possible to avoid potential tariffs from the U.S.
That is exactly what we are delivering with our $1.3 billion plan to strengthen the integrity of our border.
To date, we have:
- Put an end to flagpoling – the practice used by some to skirt immigration processes by exiting and re-entering Canada. This means shorter lines at Ports of Entry (POEs) and more officers focused on enforcing the border.
- Deployed 60 new drones along our border with the U.S.
- Improved the capacity of intelligence sharing with American counterparts by enacting the High Risk Child Sex Offender Database Act, which will establishes a publicly accessible database of high-risk offenders convicted of sexual offences against children.
- Announced the launching of the first Canadian land preclearance operation in the US, ensuring security threats are intercepted early while streamlining the flow of legitimate travel between Canada and the US.
- Reduced the cost burden of removing inadmissible people from Canada by increasing the funds recovered from those individuals.
- Aligned hours of service between many Canadian and American POEs, allowing for smoother enforcement.
- Completed border security exercises with all provinces, territories, and Indigenous communities.
- Introduced an additional protocol to the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), in partnership with the United-States (U.S.), to expand the application of the STCA to the entire land border, including internal waterways.
- Implemented a partial visa requirement for Mexican nationals to reduce the high number of asylum claims, most of which were refused, withdrawn or abandoned.
- Heightened scrutiny of visitor visa applications from countries with the highest rates of abuse, based on a new system of fraud detection.
- Removed the additional points that candidates receive under Express Entry for having a job offer.
- Implemented reforms to the International Student Program and launched a system to verify every letter of acceptance directly with post-secondary learning institutions for each study permit application.
- Proposed new regulations to address misconduct by paid representatives and strengthen the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants.
- Launched two annual international ad campaigns delivered in over 10 languages to combat misinformation: one to address misinformation about the international study permits and application process and another targeting people seeking information on Canada’s asylum system.
Canada’s border is strong, and we are making it even stronger with Canada’s Border Plan!
