Recent border outage may have weakened security, union warns, but CBSA says safety ‘upheld’

The impact for trucking companies of a systems outage at land border crossings. Sanjay Maru has details.

Canada’s border officers say a recent systems outage may have allowed some flagged truck drivers to enter the country without proper screening — a claim the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) disputes, insisting safety and security “were upheld” throughout the disruption.

The outage, which began during routine maintenance on September 28, forced border officers to process travellers and shipments by hand for nearly two days.

“While the initial outages were resolved within 48 hours, the impacts on kiosks at airports and on commercial processing at some ports of entry continued as the CBSA worked to address the backlogs that were created,” the CBSA said.

At some crossings, delays reached 38 hours.

Mark Weber, national president of the Customs and Immigration Union, says the outage stripped officers of critical information used to screen commercial traffic before it entered the country.

“Anything that’s a flag or a lookout we normally would have gotten through that system — in this case, we were only getting those once the truck had already come into Canada,” Weber said.

“That’s obviously a concern.”

He said the agency’s Across computer network, which dates back to the 1990s, is overdue for replacement — and that fewer frontline officers now make manual processing harder when systems fail.

“We rely so heavily on those automated systems now, that when they go down, it’s a big problem,” Weber said. “Years ago, when we had more officers on the front line, we could handle this manually. That’s not the case anymore.”

In an email to CTV News Windsor, the CBSA said all security protocols remained in place during the outage.

“Border services officers manually verified travellers’ identities, received their declarations, and conducted any additional screening warranted by each traveller’s individual circumstances,” the CBSA said.

The agency said its contingency plan — developed with airports, bridge and tunnel operators and trade partners — was activated to keep information flowing to frontline staff in real time.

“Manual processing takes more time and causes delays,” the statement continued.

“We thank all travellers, truck drivers, partners and stakeholders for their cooperation and patience during these outages and we apologize for the inconveniences they have caused.”

The issue was not the result of a cyberattack, the CBSA said, adding it is working with Shared Services Canada to strengthen contingency plans and reduce the risk of future outages.

A full report on what caused the disruption and how to prevent another one is expected to be delivered to the federal public safety minister within 30 days.

In Windsor, where hundreds of trucks cross the border each hour, the outage had an immediate impact on companies.

Matic Logistic Solutions said one of its drivers was stuck for nearly four hours trying to pick up a load, bound for Ontario’s automotive sector.

“Sometimes the shipper can’t wait, so you try to find recovery options — maybe call a fellow carrier to help you out,” said Matic accounting executive Keon Shoushak.

“You want to have trusted partners you can rely on in different areas.”

According to Weber, the outage is proof that technology alone can’t keep Canada’s border secure.

“Had we had the staff in place like we used to, where we could do the work manually, this outage wouldn’t have been nearly as dramatic as it was,” said Weber, calling for the federal government to speed up on its commitment to hire 1,000 more border officers.

“Getting back to real interaction with importers and travellers is how we keep Canadian communities safe.”