Border Security: Canada and the United States Strengthen Border Security Cooperation

Key Chapter Title List

1. Collaboratively Guarding Our Shared Border
2. Canada Strengthens Border Security
3. Detecting and Combating Fentanyl Trafficking
4. Providing Law Enforcement with Important New Tools
5. Enhancing Operational Coordination
6. Increasing Information Sharing
7. Reducing Non-Essential Border Traffic
8. Combating Drug Trafficking
9. Preventing Firearms Smuggling
10. Addressing Illegal Immigration and Human Trafficking
11. 2024 Fentanyl Seizures and Illegal Border Crossing Data
12. Shared Goal: Open to Legitimate Trade and Travel, Closed to Terrorists and Criminals

Document Introduction

This report provides a systematic assessment of the key joint operations and policy initiatives undertaken by Canada and the United States from 2024 to early 2025 to enhance the security of the world's longest land border. The research context is established on the reality that this vital corridor handles approximately 400,000 people and $2.5 billion in goods and services trade daily, and is protected year-round without interruption. The core issue focuses on how the two countries, through close collaboration between law enforcement agencies, advanced technology, and intelligence sharing, effectively curb the cross-border flow of illegal immigrants, drugs such as fentanyl, firearms, and other contraband, to jointly safeguard North American perimeter security.

The main structure of the report details Canada's Border Security Enhancement Action Plan announced in December 2024, which is built around five pillars. The first pillar aims to utilize high-tech means such as artificial intelligence, portable X-ray machines, mobile detection vehicles, new canine teams, and chemical detection tools to focus on detecting and dismantling fentanyl trafficking, and to establish a Drug Signature Analysis Center and a dedicated unit for monitoring precursor chemicals. The second pillar focuses on equipping law enforcement with a new Air Intelligence Task Force (including helicopters, drones, and surveillance towers) and expanding export inspection authority at port facilities to enhance capabilities against organized crime and fentanyl trafficking. The third and fourth pillars emphasize strengthening operational coordination and information sharing, including establishing a Canada-U.S. Joint Task Force to combat transnational crime, setting up regional law enforcement centers, and deepening intelligence exchange with U.S. and international partners to intercept high-risk individuals and goods. The fifth pillar focuses on reducing non-essential border traffic through measures such as terminating "port-hopping" by temporary residents to access immigration services, strengthening document controls, and imposing new restrictions on countries uncooperative with citizen repatriation.

Based on empirical data, the report further delves into the shared challenge of fentanyl trafficking. Although both countries are affected by the opioid overdose crisis, data shows that Canada is not a primary source of fentanyl for the United States—only 43 pounds of fentanyl were seized at the Canada-U.S. border in 2024, far less than the 21,000 pounds at the U.S.-Mexico border. The report notes that both sides are jointly addressing the issue of precursor chemicals originating from China through mechanisms such as the Joint Action Plan on Opioids and the "Trilateral Fentanyl Committee." Regarding firearms smuggling, significant results have been achieved through cooperative frameworks like the "Cross-Border Firearms Task Force" and operations such as "Project Moneypenny." Furthermore, since 2022, Canada has implemented a 100% tracing policy for seized firearms, with 79% of those traced in 3 traced back to the United States.

In the area of illegal immigration and human trafficking, the report assesses the impact of extending the Safe Third Country Agreement to the entire land border (including inland waterways of the Great Lakes), as well as the effectiveness of a series of measures taken by Canada, including strengthening asylum claim processing, detaining high-risk individuals, removing failed claimants, tightening eligibility requirements for temporary foreign workers, and combating visa fraud. Data shows that after partially reinstating visa requirements for Mexican citizens in February 2024, the flow of Mexicans illegally entering the U.S. from Canada decreased by approximately 70%. Furthermore, between June and December 2024, through joint Canada-U.S. operations, the flow of non-genuine visitors to Canada illegally entering the U.S. decreased by 89%. The report also cites cases such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police successfully dismantling a cross-border human smuggling ring involving over a hundred people.

The analysis in this report is based on official policy documents, law enforcement data (such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection data), and publicly available information on bilateral cooperation frameworks. Its key findings reveal that Canada-U.S. border security cooperation has formed a multi-layered, high-tech-driven comprehensive system, demonstrating a high degree of synergy and effectiveness in curbing the flow of illicit substances, tracing firearms, managing migration flows, and conducting joint law enforcement operations. The ultimate policy implication points to a shared goal: ensuring the border remains open to legitimate trade and travel while being firmly closed to terrorists and criminals. This embodies the interdependent security perspective that "Canada's border security is U.S. border security."