Federal Budget Bill passed provision to further digitize the border

The recently passed federal budget law that amends dozens of laws includes a provision that will promote digitalization of the border.

Bill C-47which is nearly 400 pages, received royal assent on June 22 and amends customs laws to “allow a person arriving in Canada to present to the Canada Border Services Agency [CBSA] through telecommunications.”

CBSA says this will enable the introduction of a range of voluntary service processing tools at border crossings and airports, including the controversial ArriveCAN application.

“Legislative amendments to the Customs Act proposed in Bill C-47 would remove current barriers to moving forward with proposals to deliver a more modern traveler experience. The changes introduce a new way of presenting that would be supported by the use of voluntary self-service processing tools,” CBSA media relations spokesperson Maria Ladouceur said in an email to The Epoch Times.

The amended law now has a section that gives anyone entering Canada two options to present themselves; either to an officer in person or to the agency “by means of a means of telecommunication specified by the Minister for use at that customs office.”

Ladouceur said these “communication tools” refer to current and future border processing technologies, such as primary inspection kiosks, mobile apps such as the Advance Declaration feature in the ArriveCAN app, electronic gates, telephone and radio.

Ladouceur said the legislative changes are intended to support the federal government’s investment in a “safe, modern and efficient travel experience for Canadians and visitors crossing our borders.” As part of Traveler modernization initiative, the CBSA is developing new tools to facilitate travel across the Canadian border while ensuring the safety of communities, she said.

Various forms of digital ID or credentials for travel projects have been in the works in recent years, including the Known Traveler Digital Identity (KTDI) spearheaded by the World Economic Forum.

While that project was being completed, Canada started another project for a digital ID for travel with the Netherlands.

Other digital identification systems are already in use on select flights operated by Air Canada, a partner of KTDI.

ArrivalCAN

The ArriveCAN app was launched in April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic as a screening tool to ensure travelers arriving in Canada were adhering to border restrictions. In July 2021, a new version of the app enabled Canadians to prove their COVID-19 vaccination status by uploading their documents through the app.

The application, which cost $54 million to develop, became controversial for many Canadians. Some mayors and businesses close to the Canada-US border complained that the app discouraged Americans from doing business in Canada, while an app glitch led to 10,200 people being wrongly quarantined.

Use of ArriveCAN was made optional in September 2022, but an additional feature called Advance Declaration remained, which allowed passengers to complete a CBSA declaration form prior to arrival at customs to expedite processing. Figures provided by the federal government in early June show low take-up: Only 11 percent of eligible travelers use it.

According to Ladouceur, ArriveCAN’s Advance Declaration feature has been used more than 1 million times, about 300,000 times per month, and has been shown to reduce the amount of time a traveler spends at a kiosk or gate by about 30 percent. She added that the CBSA is also currently exploring “other optional ArriveCAN features to give travelers easy access to information, such as border wait times and other self-service features.”

Right to privacy

Hatim Kheir, a lawyer for Charter Advocates Canada, said giving Canadians the option of using an easier way to cross the border is “not the problem.” He said the problem lies with a paragraph in the bill that says if one of the two ways of verifying identification at the border is not available, they should use the other option.

“This could create a situation where people are forced to use ArriveCAN, and it is my belief that this would be unconstitutional for the same reasons we claim that ArriveCAN was unconstitutional, which is because it violates people’s right to privacy “Kher said.

He also expressed concern about the integration of ArriveCAN into a digital ID system that would control Canadians’ access to healthcare, finance and government services.

“The real problem here is that it creates a huge leverage in the hands of the government. The Canadian government and Western countries are based on the liberal idea that good government is limited government because power corrupts and absolute power should not be given to people,” he said.

“And the real danger in something like a centralized digital ID system is just that. It is almost unlimited power.”