CBSA agents whistleblow on possible border hour reductions, closures

Whistleblowers in the Canada Border Services Agency have made it known to their union that CBSA might be planning on reducing hours or closing ports in an effort to save money.

While there won’t be any layoffs of CBSA officers, Marianne Hladun, regional executive vice-president for Public Service Alliance of Canada – Prairies, believes that the impact to communities will be huge.

“Our concern is, enough is enough. You need to talk to the communities you need to talk to the people using the ports. Just two weeks ago our suspicions were confirmed because they reduced hours in a port in Quebec with three days’ notice and with no consultation with the community,” she said.

RM of Emerson-Franklin Reeve Dave Carlson said communities should be consulted when a reduction of hours is being considered.

“There should always be consultation with stakeholders to hear the concerns of the affected communities and the business sectors. There are always ramifications when there are changes like this,” he said.

There are 18 ports of entry on the border in Manitoba, one of them being the Emerson-Pembina crossing, which is a major trade corridor that’s open 24/7. Carlson believes this port’s hours will not be reduced due to its importance. A smaller port, such as Tolstoi, might see a reduction.

“With regards to Tolstoi-Lancaster crossing any reduction in hours is not welcome…It can affect businesses in Tolstoi. There can be some economic impacts. It’s definitely quality of life impacts,” he said.

Hladun said 70 percent of the ports affected will be in the prairies because there are more ports and less traffic compared to other ports nationally.

She also noted CBSA tried to reduce hours across the country in 2011, 2017, and 2019 but were unsuccessful due to public outcry. The reason for the reduction in hours is that CBSA is short 2,000 officers. Another reason is that this is being used as a bargaining chip by the department for more federal dollars.

A spokesperson for CBSA declined an interview but said there will be no closures of ports but that “CBSA regularly assesses the allocation of its resources and hours of operations to respond to current service needs and evolving trends, while ensuring the safety, security, and prosperity of Canada.”

For more information on reduction of hours at ports the spokesperson pointed to the agency’s Facebook and X (formally Twitter) accounts.

“Their strategy is always reduce the hours a little bit, so 24 hour ports some of them were reduced down to 18 hours and they tried to put it down to 12 hours, or 8 hours, or Monday to Friday, until they get to a point where they say, “There’s only so many cars going through why would we keep it open?’” said Hladun.