New Rules for Border Device Searches

Summary#

This bill updates Canada’s border laws. It clarifies when officers can look at documents on your phone, laptop, or tablet at the border or in U.S. preclearance. It also lets the government set rules for these searches and updates penalties and enforcement tools.

• Sets a legal threshold of “reasonable grounds to suspect” before examining documents on a personal digital device (Customs Act s. 99.01(1); Preclearance Act ss. 20.1(1), 28.1(1)).
• Requires device network connectivity to be disabled during examinations (Customs Act s. 99.01(1); Preclearance Act ss. 20.1(1), 28.1(1)).
• Allows officers to detain devices to examine, search, or detain documents stored on them (Preclearance Act ss. 20.1(2), 28.1(2)).
• Creates regulation-making powers and ministerial directions to govern these examinations, including steps for claims of legal privilege (Customs Act s. 99.4(a), (a.01); Preclearance Act ss. 43(1)(c.1), (c.2), 45.1).
• Updates penalties for hindering an officer and extends the time limit to lay summary charges to 8 years (Customs Act ss. 160.1, 163).

What it means for you#

• Households and travellers
  • At the Canadian border, only designated Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers may examine documents on your device if they have reasonable grounds to suspect a contravention of customs or related federal laws, or that your device holds evidence of a contravention (Customs Act s. 99.01(1), (2)).
  • Your device’s network must be disabled during an examination (for example, airplane mode). The focus is on documents stored on the device, such as emails, texts, receipts, photos, or videos (Customs Act s. 99.01(1)).
  • If you claim a document is protected by solicitor-client privilege or similar legal privilege, officers must follow regulations that set out how to handle that claim (Customs Act s. 99.4(a.01)).
  • Refusing or hindering an officer can lead to fines up to $10,000 on summary conviction or up to $50,000 on indictment, and possible jail time (up to 6 months on summary conviction; up to 5 years on indictment) (Customs Act s. 160.1).
  • Proceedings by summary conviction for customs offences can be started up to 8 years after the alleged conduct (Customs Act s. 163).
• Travellers using U.S. preclearance in Canada (airports, some land and marine sites)
  • U.S. preclearance officers in Canada may examine, search, and detain documents on your device if they have reasonable grounds to suspect a contravention of U.S. laws on importation of goods, immigration, agriculture, or public health and safety, or that your documents may be evidence of such a contravention (Preclearance Act ss. 20.1(1), 28.1(1)).
  • Your device’s network must be disabled during these actions, and officers may detain the device itself (Preclearance Act ss. 20.1(1)–(2), 28.1(1)–(2)).
  • The Minister may issue directions that guide how these examinations occur; these must be published in the Canada Gazette within 60 days and last up to 1 year unless replaced by regulations (Preclearance Act s. 45.1(2), (4)).
  • Goods detained under these new sections may be seized or accepted as forfeit in line with U.S. law (Preclearance Act s. 34(1)).
• Lawyers and notaries
  • The bill requires regulations on how officers must handle claims that documents are subject to solicitor-client privilege, professional secrecy of advocates and notaries, or litigation privilege (Customs Act s. 99.4(a.01); Preclearance Act s. 43(1)(c.2)).
• Businesses
  • Devices imported or exported solely for sale or for industrial, occupational, commercial, or institutional use are excluded from the new personal-device document examination powers (Customs Act s. 99.01(3); Preclearance Act ss. 20.1(4), 28.1(4)).
  • Officers may make electronic copies of records when seizing the physical medium is impossible, impractical, or risks degrading the evidence (Customs Act ss. 110(3.1), 111(3.1), 115(1)).
• Timing
  • Data unavailable.

Expenses#

Estimated net cost: Data unavailable.

• No explicit appropriations, fees, or revenue changes appear in the bill text.
• No publicly available fiscal note.
• Potential administrative costs for training, regulations, and guidance are not quantified in official sources. Data unavailable.

Proponents' View#

• Sets a clear, reviewable legal threshold (“reasonable grounds to suspect”) for device-document examinations, replacing undefined practices and aligning with court guidance (Customs Act s. 99.01(1); Preclearance Act ss. 20.1(1), 28.1(1)).
• Limits scope by requiring network connectivity to be disabled and by focusing on documents stored on the device, not live online content (Customs Act s. 99.01(1); Preclearance Act ss. 20.1(1), 28.1(1)).
• Protects legal privilege by mandating regulations on how officers handle claims of solicitor-client and related privileges (Customs Act s. 99.4(a.01); Preclearance Act s. 43(1)(c.2)).
• Improves enforcement tools: allows electronic copies when seizing hardware is not feasible; permits telewarrants; clarifies warrant scope for records in any form (Customs Act ss. 110(3.1), 111(3.1), 111(8)).
• Deters obstruction with updated penalties and ensures complex cases can be pursued with an 8-year summary conviction window (Customs Act ss. 160.1, 163).
• Provides flexible, time-limited ministerial directions for preclearance practices, with public notice in the Canada Gazette, until formal regulations are made (Preclearance Act s. 45.1(2), (4), (5)).

Opponents' View#

• Privacy concerns: permits suspicion-based searches of highly personal content (emails, photos, texts) without a warrant; relies on officer judgment to form “reasonable grounds to suspect” (Customs Act s. 99.01(1); Preclearance Act ss. 20.1(1), 28.1(1)).
• Device detention and copying: officers may detain devices and make electronic copies of records; the bill does not set specific limits on retention or deletion of copied data (Preclearance Act ss. 20.1(2), 28.1(2); Customs Act ss. 110(3.1), 115(1)).
• Oversight risk: ministerial directions that guide preclearance searches are not subject to the Statutory Instruments Act review process, though they must be published; this may reduce scrutiny compared to regulations (Preclearance Act s. 45.1(4)).
• Extended exposure to charges: the 8-year period to start summary proceedings may create prolonged legal uncertainty for travellers and businesses (Customs Act s. 163).
• Legal privilege safeguards depend on future regulations and directions; practical protections remain uncertain until those are issued (Customs Act s. 99.4(a.01); Preclearance Act ss. 43(1)(c.2), 45.1(1)).
• Preclearance application of U.S. legal standards: examinations target suspected contraventions of U.S. laws, and seizures must be consistent with U.S. law, which may raise concerns for travellers subject to foreign legal criteria while in Canada (Preclearance Act ss. 20.1(1), 28.1(1), 34(1)).