tecate55

Did they scrutinize everyone to the point of off-boarding delays?

I'm usually flying from a passport req'd place, but even I doubt my Nexus card: the photo is absolutely awful. B&W to boot. The worst on any photo ID I've ever had. My free high school "student rate" bus passes were better. Funny how security strength somehow goes downhill as trust goes up.

I don't argue with CBSA officers either, but I do submit complaints/comments once I'm safely home. They've at least provided a facade of taking complaints seriously, though they investigate themselves so I question the rigour. As a citizen, they have little opportunity for retribution.

blue2002

Yes, when there is a passport check at the jetway, they scrutinize every passenger coming off the plane.

My Nexus card is the same. Likely the reason why CBSA folks ask to see the actual passport. I have never experienced a jetway documents check on arrival from US.

LOL. Do you want to visit "secondary" every time you come back into the country? The internet is full of interesting threads of folks (usually US citizens returning to US), for example, refusing to answer any questions at the border. Ok, there is some validity to this thinking: You are a citizen. You have shown your passport. In theory answering questions of an immigration officer is not a requirement to re-enter your own country, but... Why do it? Why make life difficult for yourself and the immigration folks that are, in fact, guarding your country's borders? Live and let live, I say.

Davvidd

It is odd when you think about it but in Canada certainly it is the CBSA and they are the combined customs and immigration. In lots of countries it is separate and the immigration do not ask you questions when you come back home, but the Customs can and certainly do so.

tentseller

CBSA is only border services, there are distinct Immigration Canada and Custom and Excise departments.
They enforce the law of these two departments at the border, entry as well as exit.

Davvidd

Are you talking about IRCC for Immigration? At the border most of their questions are for the customs duty and bringing in prohibited or dutiable items. In many other countries they are separate and hence the immigration do not ask questions from their own citizens while the customs will ask. My point is the CBSA asks because of the items a passenger may bring and not for any immigration purposes as they cannot stop a Canadian from coming into Canada.

TravellingChris

CBSA is similar to the U.S. CBP in that these are both frontline agencies that enforce rules on behalf of other departments. (For example, border officers apply rules set by federal agriculture departments when determining admissibility of food and plant products.) They are merely the first point of contact for a traveler.

You are correct in stating that no federal officer can stop a Canadian from entering Canada--even during the pandemic, the border could not be fully closed as Canadian citizens have a constitutional right to enter and leave--the key is in satisfying the officer of one's citizenship. A Canadian passport accomplishes this. In my experience once I have presented the passport and the CBSA officer has scanned it and visually verified that I am the bearer, the conversation moves to customs topics. My eligibility to enter the country is no longer in question, so now I am asked about how long I was away, how much I am bringing back, etc.

As I noted in my earlier post I always sail through the CBSA spot checks on the jetway because they are immigration-only. By presenting my passport I show my entitlement to enter the country and am quickly on my way, The more in-depth interview for customs purposes comes downstairs in the arrival hall.

sydneyracquelle

I am a Cdn citizen living in USA. During all of covid I travelled back and forth for 1-2 days for medical appt every 2 weeks. During the pandemic there was a third element to immigration and customs and that was quarantine. Immigration was done with my Cdn passport. Customs was done as I had nothing with me.

But they focused on the quarantine side making sure I wasn’t interacting with anyone after my appointment. Many of them got frustrated that they had to let me in and some said I had to quarantine for 14 days which was total bs as medical appt was exempt and anyone could always decide to leave Canada at anytime. Land border was always harder than air. It was very interesting watching them trying to make up new rules on the fly. They would go through everything on my phone which was always empty with zero emails and texts. I was always successful but sometimes it took many hours. They were also very bored with zero travellers crossing. After the vaccine came out it was a bit easier but the first year they tried to makeup rules why they could deny me entry without a 14-day quarantine plan.

blue2002

Yup, same model in Canada and US, orthogonally different from the European model. Both models work, just differently. I imagine in the next 10-15 years Canada may move towards the European model, but hey, who knows...

yoonland

The US model works best for Canada as it is just more efficient to do both immigration and customs inspections at 1 booth at a land border, not to mention; a sizeable chunk of CBSA’s business is carrying out and enforcing removals, in partnership with IRCC. Don’t think that another agency is quite suited to do that, but time will tell

blue2002

The "Euro" model can be implemented at land crossings just as easily as at airports. You would simply have the immigration booth (to confirm admissibility) followed by a customs checkpoint, where you either get waved through or pulled over to secondary.

Kram222

The way it was explained to me is that the CBSA officers wear around 90 different hats. Each hat represents another department of the government. The first officer you meet at the window asks general questions to get an idea of who you are (immigration) and why are you at the window (customs and immigration). For example, you are a Canadian that travelled to the USA to go camping with the family for 2 weeks. Their thought would be: They are Canadian so they come in without question. Check to make sure the names on passports all match and maybe ask the kids a question or 2. They went camping, so they probably have alcohol. Gone 2 weeks they each get a 40 oz of hard stuff. The kids might be bringing back some stuff from the camp that can’t come in. They might have firewood that can’t come in. Maybe they picked up an animal like a turtle. What about fishing?
And their next questions would be based on those thoughts which are addressing all of these “hats” they wear.