The Entry/Exit Program is a joint
initiative between Canada and the United States.  Implemented on June 30, 2013, it enables Canada
Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) officers to collect information on foreign
nationals (excluding U.S. citizens) who exited the country via land border
crossing into the United States. 

Currently, the Customs Act[1] enables
CBSA to record entries and exits via land border crossing for all travellers
(including both Canadians and Americans), as well as entries by air.  CBSA is therefore able to maintain travel
records which capture entries for all travellers by air and land, but only
exits via land border crossings. 

Of course, as many travellers exit
Canada by air, these travel records are largely incomplete.  However, CBSA’s access to traveller
information will be further expanded as a result of Bill
C-21, An Act to amend the Customs Act, which received Royal Assent on
December 13, 2018.  Bill C-21 will enable Canada and the United States to exchange
basic biographic entry data on all travellers entering into their respective countries.  Entries into one country will therefore
indicate an exit from the other, and this information will be shared. 

CBSA and its United States counterpart,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, have entered into an information sharing
memorandum of understanding, which includes safeguards and protections for the
exchange of travellers’ biographic entry data. 
The biographic data collected on each traveller during exits by land
border crossing includes: (1) name, (2) date of birth, (3) nationality, (4)
sex, (5) travel document type, (6) travel document number, (7) name of country
that issued the travel document, (8) date and time of exit, and (9) name of
land border crossing used during exit.  

Significantly, once the regulatory
amendments and related information sharing arrangements are in effect (expected
to take place in June 2020), CBSA will also be able to record exits by air for
all travellers.  In this regard, exit
information will be obtained directly from air carriers through passenger
manifests. 

In summary, once fully
implemented, Bill C-21 will enable
CBSA to maintain accurate and increasingly complete travel records for all
travellers.  More specifically,
information on the date, time, flight information, and location of departure by
air will soon be recorded for all travellers departing on outbound
international flights, in addition to the biographic data noted above.  However, this information will not be shared
with the United States under the current version of the joint Entry/Exit
Program.

The stated purpose of the
Entry/Exit Program, as well as CBSA’s broader ability to record the biographic
data on travellers entering and exiting the country, is to maintain a strong
and secure border.  Indeed, it does allow
for the tracking of known high-risk travellers, and enables action on time
sensitive situations, such as locating abducted children or runaways.  However, this information is also used in connection
with the more common traveller.  Such
routine uses of entry and exit data include:

• Identifying individuals who remain in Canada
  beyond their authorized period of stay;
• Determining whether applicants meet residency
  requirements for purposes of citizenship and permanent residency applications
  (including those applicants who seek to renew their permanent residence cards
  on an on-going basis); and
• Verifying travel dates for purposes of applying
  duty and tax exemptions.

Canadian citizens, permanent
residents of Canada, as well as foreign nationals currently present in Canada,
can request their Travel
History Report from the CBSA under the Privacy Act.[2]

[1] R.S.C., 1985, c. 1 (2nd
Supp.).

[2] R.S.C., 1985, c. P-21.