'We are a weak link': Canada's border security under the microscope following Trump tariff threat

Canada’s border security has been thrust into the spotlight after president-elect Donald Trump threatened the country with a 25 per cent tariff on all goods, including energy coming into the U.S.

Trump says the only way those tariffs would be removed is if Canada addresses its drug crisis and illegal migration at the border.

"We are a weak link and in the United States border security, program framework, it's very easy to come to Canada," said Kelly Sundberg, a former Canada Border Services Agency officer and criminologist at Mount Royal University.

"We have an honour-based immigration system, which is insane. And we've had it in place for quite some time. It's absolutely ludicrous."

Sundberg says he's hopeful that concerns raised by the incoming commander in chief will be addressed in the next two months, something he says is very possible.

"We can start doing outbound checks of cargo," he said.

"We can increase the capacity to patrol our borders by soliciting provincial police services, border police, like border town police services. There are ways it can be done until we have our own border patrol."

Sundberg says that illegal crossings and drugs are a big problem for Canada, not to the extent of the southern U.S. border, but one that has been pushed to the back burner for years.

"The United States is well aware that our borders have been neglected for over a decade," he said.

"They're well aware that Canada has become a conduit for, not just undocumented migrants, but also for drugs."

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), nearly 24,000 illegal migrant crossings were recorded between posts on the Canada-U.S. border between October 2023 and September 2024, which is a significant surge compared to 916 encounters during that same period in 2021, during the pandemic.

U.S. border officials refer to an "encounter" as someone who is inadmissible to the U.S. or when border patrol officers find someone who has illegally crossed the border into the U.S. between border posts.

"Part of that is also because Canada's primarily honour-based immigration system, where the RCMP is somewhat responsible for the space between our ports of entry and CBSA, which is responsible for the ports of entry," said Sundberg.

"We have the Immigration Department, immigration citizenship that's responsible for deciding who comes in and out. It's a patchwork and it doesn't work anymore."

U.S border patrol says it has had 15,361 encounters at its border since October. There were 198,929 encounters at the border during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

Terrorist screening data set encounters at the Canadian and US border were at 358 for the 2024 fiscal year. The 2025 fiscal year has already seen 44 encounters according to CBP.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller says the Liberal government is working on a plan, to address the concerns, but would not elaborate on what that entails.

"There's a number of measures that we are considering," he told reporters in Ottawa.

"In any event, regardless of what the incoming administration would have been. Clearly this will be part of a discussion, that we'll have with the Americans when we have an opportunity to sit down with them."

CBP also says that during the 2023-24 fiscal year (October to September) 19.5 kilograms of fentanyl was seized at the Canadian border, along with more than 3,100 kilograms of marijuana and 84 kilograms of methamphetamines.

"I don't want to stop drug overdoses to please Donald Trump," said Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.

"I want to stop drug overdoses, so that there's not one more mother with her face buried in a pillow, sobbing that she just lost her kid. After 47,000 other Canadians have died, that's more than we lost in the Second World War."

Sundberg says Canada must act quickly to avoid an economic disaster.

"I think we could do some things in two months, but I'm not hopeful. I’m not hopeful at all," said Sundberg.

"We are in for a tsunami. And we're not ready for it."

'It is a tried and tested partnership': CBSA

In an emailed statement, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said it works closely and regularly with its partners on both sides of the border.

"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," the statement read.

"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."

The CBSA says it "remains vigilant in the interdiction of illegal drugs to ensure these harmful substances remain off the streets and out of local communities."

"The agency seizes fentanyl and other controlled substances, in addition to precursor chemicals that can be used in the production of illegal synthetic drugs," the statement read.

The CBSA noted it seized "close to 51 million grams of illegal drugs, more than 27,000 prohibited weapons and almost 900 firearms" in the 2023-24 fiscal year.

It says it prepared "inadmissibility reports for more than 3,500 individuals suspected of serious inadmissibility."

Of those, it says, "approximately 76 per cent of the reports were for serious criminality, 14 per cent were for criminality, six per cent were for organized criminality, three per cent were for security and one per cent were for human rights violations or war crimes."

The CBSA noted it denied visas in 800 immigration national security screenings in 2023, on "reasonable grounds to believe the individuals were inadmissible on grounds of security, human or international rights violations, or organized crime."

Also in 2023, it says it intervened in "approximately 7,500 cases to recommend that airlines do not allow a passenger to board a flight to Canada based on concerns over the validity of their travel documents," investigated "more than 8,100 cases where individuals were suspected of serious inadmissibility" and participated in "almost 3,000 hearings before the IRB to argue for a finding of inadmissibility or present evidence against refugee claimants."

It says in 2023, it "removed more than 15,100 inadmissible foreign nationals, including more than 700 with a serious inadmissibility."

"Additionally, between 2023 and June 30, 2024, the CBSA detained more than 1,600 individuals for serious inadmissibility pending their removal from Canada," the statement read.