Canada Border Services Agency
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) (French: Agence des services frontaliers du Canada - ASFC) is responsible for Canada's border operations. It was created on December 12, 2003, amalgamating Canada Customs (from the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency) with border personnel from Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Legislation creating the agency received Royal Assent on November 3, 2005 and came into force on December 12, 2005.
Since the September 11 attacks against the United States, Canada's border operations have placed a dramatic new emphasis on national security and public safety. The Canada-United States Smart Border Declaration created by John Manley and Tom Ridge has provided objectives for co-operation between Canadian and American customs operations.
A major ongoing project of the CBSA is Advance Commercial Information, which requires shipborne and airborne cargo entering Canada to be registered with the Agency. This assists officials at seaports and airports in their inspections, and allows for the tracking of suspicious materials. These phases of the project are scheduled to be fully implemented by December 2005, with a similar highway and rail cargo program to follow in the near future.
The Agency falls under the Cabinet portfolio of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness currently held by outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan.