The other day I had reason to be in the Port of Montreal, my hometown. The HAL Rotterdam was berthed in a temporary cruise port set up further east from the permanent Alexandria Pier in Old Montreal while it is being completely rebuilt. I required a security escort to access the area, and a temporary Passport control station was validating documents of all passengers and crew both boarding and disembarking the ship. Apparently, at least here on Montreal, Canadian border control is now handled in a more visibly secure manner than what was described by the OP.