Anti-Smuggling Investments in the CBSA and RCMP

Date: December 16,2021 
Classification: Unclassified
Branch / Agency: CPB

Proposed Response:

• The RCMP and CBSA are taking significant steps to stop illegal guns at their source — to stop smuggling across the border, trafficking within Canada, and diversion from the legal market through domestic straw purchasing and theft.
• Our Government has invested $125M to enhance the RCMP and CBSA’s capacity to detect and disrupt gun smuggling.
• The results are clear. Last year, the CBSA’s Drugs and Firearms Detector Dog Teams seized 74 firearms, 42 magazines, and 22 prohibited weapons. This year, despite fewer passengers due to COVID border closures, the CBSA seized 59 firearms, 21 magazines, and 12 prohibited weapons.
• Just a few weeks ago in Cornwall, the RCMP seized 53 pistols, 104 assorted magazines and 6 Griffin Armament AR-15 variants. 
• In March of this year, the RCMP had another significant seizure near the border in Dundee, Quebec where they seized 5 hockey equipment bags containing 249 prohibited Glock handguns and 249 prohibited magazines capable of holding 15 rounds each.
• But, we more is needed. That is why we have invested an additional $312M over 5 years, beginning this year, to enhance our capacity to better identify, disrupt and prevent firearms from entering the illicit market.
• We are investing $15M to increase the RCMP’s capacity to trace firearms and $40.3M for anti-smuggling activities, which includes building a national system that allows for the flagging of bulk purchases of firearms.
• We are also investing $21.6M for the CBSA to enhance its x-ray equipment to detect firearms at land and marine ports and to enable intelligence sharing.
• These investments will benefit law enforcement agencies across Canada by enabling RCMP and CBSA collaboration with police services to prevent illicit access to firearms through increased investigations and enforcement.

If pressed on use of CERB funding to buy illegal firearms:

• Our government has zero tolerance for fraud.
• The safety and security of all Canadians is a top priority for our Government and we remain committed to combatting gun trafficking and organized crime in all its forms.

Background:

Firearms smuggling refers to the illegal importation of firearms across an international border. Firearms trafficking is not limited to international borders and includes the illegal domestic transfer of firearms through criminal diversion and straw purchasing. 

Cross-Border Smuggling

The cross-border smuggling of firearms poses a threat to the safety and security of Canada. Given the easy availability of firearms in the United States (U.S.), including firearms that are strictly controlled or prohibited in Canada, most firearm seizures happen at the Canada-U.S. land border. While not all seizures at the border are illegal or smuggled firearms, the CBSA seizes large quantities of firearms every year from U.S. citizens, mostly from non-compliant travellers attempting to retain their personal firearms while travelling.

In 2021–2022, CBSA has reported seeing its greatest upward trend with 890 firearms seized to-date less than nine months into the fiscal year compared to total firearms seized in 2018–19 (695) and 2019–20 (752). With the removal of COVID-19 restrictions at the land border, CBSA anticipates that this trend is likely to continue. The total number of firearms successfully smuggled into Canada is unknown.

Firearms Tracing, Straw Purchasing and Diversion

Firearms tracing is a key tool in determining the sources of and diversion routes for illegal firearms. Approximately, 21,000 firearms are seized annually by police. In 2020, the Canadian National Firearms Tracing Centre traced 2,144 firearms, with the vast majority of requests (approximately 93%) being submitted by Canadian law enforcement clients. This represented a 21.26% increase in traces from 2019 (1,768).

Straw purchasing occurs when a legal Canadian firearm license-holder purchases a gun and then illegally resells it on the black market, through a targeted campaign for individuals and retailers. Many legal firearms in Canada are diverted into the illicit market through domestic straw purchasing practices and theft. According to Statistics Canada, between 2010 and 2019, there was an increase of break and enters where a firearm was stolen (from 673 to 1,072 incidents). There may be cases where thefts are related to improper storage and transportation of firearms, but data on this is not available.

Enhancing Canada’s Firearm Control Framework

In Budget 2021 the government announced an investment of $312M over five years, starting in 2021–22, and $41.4M per year ongoing for PS, CBSA, and the RCMP to enhance Canada’s firearm control framework. This funding will includes program measures that will:

• strengthen services to support the lawful acquisition, ownership and use of firearms by:
• enhancing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Canadian Firearms Program services to Canadians and law enforcement;
• combat illegal firearm-related activities by:
• increasing RCMP capacity to trace firearms and to continue to build a national system that allows for the flagging of straw/bulk purchases of firearms; and
• providing the RCMP and the CBSA with additional resources to target firearms smuggling and trafficking.
• enhancing firearms policy advice and promote awareness of firearm programs by:
• Establish capacity for the RCMP to begin the development of a buyback program for newly-prohibited firearms;
• Continue to develop and advance the firearms social marketing campaign that will raise awareness and educate Canadians on the need to reduce violent crimes through a variety of initiatives.

This investment builds on the investment made in Budget 2018 of $358.8M for the Initiative to Take Action against Gun and Gang Violence (ITAAGGV) over five years.

Funding breakdown starting 2020-21 over five years is as follows:

* Total numbers have been rounded

Date modified:

2022-06-01