What Budget 2025 promises for border security and traveller screening
Global News
The budget says new funding will go toward 'digital solutions to maximize efficiency in security screening activities' and developing a new preclearance system for travellers.
The federal budget unveiled by the government this week includes measures to strengthen border security and modernize screening of cross-border travellers, but details on the latter so far are slim.
The new spending proposals will complement the $1.3-billion border security plan announced last December, of which $81 million has been allocated for spending by the end of the current fiscal year, the government says.
The budget proposes $14.8 million over the next four years to Transport Canada “to develop and implement a new preclearance access regime, ensuring a more secure transportation system for all Canadians.”
The document says the funding will also go toward “digital solutions to maximize efficiency in security screening activities,” particularly for transportation facility employees.
The government says the preclearance system will “complement” the new preclearance facility at Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport, which allows travellers to clear U.S. customs and immigration inspection prior to boarding a flight to the United States. The federal government contributed $30 million toward the facility, which is expected to open before the end of this year.
The budget also says the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) will “reduce its day-to-day expenses by minimizing spending on professional services, leveraging technology to automate certain processes and functions, and modernising its organizational structure.”
“This will include deploying automated systems to detect prohibited items at pre-board screening checkpoints and enhance screening efficiency,” the budget stated, while promising “no impact on the security of travellers.”‘
It also says CATSA’s modernization efforts to “improve efficiencies” include “alignment with recent changes implemented by the United States.”
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