Canada ends flagpoling for those seeking work and study permits at the border

Work and study permits will no longer be available for flagpolers at ports of entry in Canada.

Flagpolers are foreign nationals holding temporary resident status in Canada who leave the country and re-enter to access immigration services, such as work or study permits, at a port of entry rather than submitting a renewal application through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) reports that more than 69,300 flagpolers were processed between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024 primarily in the Pacific, southern Ontario and Quebec regions.

"This change will enable us to further streamline activities at our ports of entry and allow Canadian and American border officers to focus on what they have been expertly trained to do — border enforcement," Public Safety Minister David McGuinty said in a statement on Monday.

This announcement comes as part of a broader move to strengthen Canada's border security ahead of the inauguration of U.S. president-elect on Jan. 20.

Canada has been focused on strengthening its border security in an effort to dissuade Trump from imposing a hefty 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods. He says his tariff threat is in response to concerns about border security, migrants and illegal drugs, especially fentanyl.

The Liberal government's fall economic update earmarked $1.3 billion for a border security package over six years. That includes buying helicopters and drones to strengthen monitoring of the shared border and spending more on the CBSA, the RCMP, Public Safety Canada and the Communications Security Establishment Canada. But the statement was light on details about how that money will be spent.

It was, in part, this commitment to border security and Canada's impending tariff war that led former deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland to resign from cabinet.

In her resignation letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Freeland said the two have been at odds over the best path through Trump's tariff threat.

"We need to take that threat extremely seriously," she wrote in her letter. "That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war."

The CBSA says the changes to flagpoling were made to allow both Canada and the United States to "effectively manage border operations and maintain the integrity of our shared border."

"A strong Canada-U.S. relationship keeps people and goods moving safely while protecting both sides of the border. Flagpoling is unnecessary and diverts resources from critical enforcement activities," Immigration Minister Marc Miller said in a statement.

The CBSA says that in some "limited circumstances," work and study permits may be administered to individuals who would otherwise meet the criteria of a flagpoler, including; citizens and permanent residents of the U.S.; truck drivers who need to leave Canada for work; professionals and technicians under free-trade agreements with the U.S./Mexico, Chile, Panama, Peru, Colombia and South Korea; and spouses or common-law partners of professionals and technicians under free-trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea.

Individuals who do not meet the limited circumstances and attempt to flagpole will be redirected to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to submit their application.