Massive kiosk outage was result of ‘unforeseen technical problems’: CBSA

A Primary Inspection Kiosk, also known as an e-gate, is pictured. (CBSA/photo)

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is stressing that a recent system IT outage, which impacted inspection kiosks in several airports across the country and resulted in delays for many travellers, was not a result of a cyberattack.

In a statement published Monday, the CBSA said the Sept. 28 incident was a result of “unforeseen technical problems during routine systems maintenance.”

The outage, which was resolved within 48 hours, forced the CBSA to staff border services lanes with officers who manually processed travellers, traffic and shipments.

Things have since resumed to its usual flow, with travellers and commercial volumes back to normal. The agency said it was continuing to investigate the cause of the outage and will deliver a report to Gary Anandasangaree, the minster of public safety, within 30 days.

“The CBSA is working closely with (Shared Services Canada) to reduce the risk of future outages, to minimize any system downtime, and also to strengthen our contingency plans based on the experience gained from these recent outages,” the statement read.

A similar incident occurred on Oct. 2 with CBSA’s primary inspection kiosks, which resulted in delays at airports across the country.

It was reported to have led to delays at Toronto Pearson International Airport, Montreal-Trudeau International Airport, Calgary International Airport and Vancouver International Airport. A CBSA spokesperson also insisted that the outage was “not the result of any cyberattack.”