The Canadian International Council, Spring 2021, Volume 69, No. 15.

Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and COVID-19

Summary

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many nations to reconsider what borders mean, and precisely how they work in the interests of “national security”. Front and centre in that calculation for Canadians is the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA), in many respects this country’s “gate-keepers”. Often over-looked as part of Canada’s intelligence community, and frequently parochial in its orientation to international security issues, CBSA has been forced to confront unprecedented challenges in managing our frontiers. But the global crisis also provides the agency with an opportunity to redefine its place in government, and in the minds of Canadians who usually care little about borders or those who protect them