On International Customs Day, marked each year on January 26, the Canada Border Services Agency is proud to highlight its partnership with the United States. Together, we serve and protect our communities and our shared border every single day.
Combined efforts to combat cross-border crime and build strong economies
Canada and the U.S. have one of the largest trading relationships in the world, with more than $3.4 billion worth of goods and services crossing the border each day. In 2022, Canada-U.S. trade in goods and services was over $1.2 trillion and represented about two thirds of Canada’s total global trade.
The fact that we share the world’s longest border is in itself a testament to the enduring impacts of Canada’s productive relationship with the U.S., including the strong cooperation between the Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. This partnership is vital to keeping illegal firearms off our streets and making inroads in the opioid and synthetic drug crisis.
In the past year alone, collaboration and shared intelligence have played an important role in enforcement actions by the Canada Border Services Agency and partners, such as the seizure of:
- 27,149 prohibited weapons
- 920 restricted firearms
- Over 150,000 lb of illegal drugs, including:
- 23 lb of fentanyl
- 2308 lb of cocaine
The Canada Border Services Agency is also leading a cross-border task force on behalf of the Government of Canada that will ensure that law enforcement partners in both countries benefit from shared intelligence, information, and partnerships, so that we can detect and intercept the illegal movement of firearms at the border.
Preventing terrorism from reaching our borders
The importance of Canada-U.S collaboration has never been greater as threats of war and terrorism continue to fragment and endanger the world we live in. Canada and the U.S. are combatting terrorism by sharing intelligence and keeping our border secure.
As members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, Canada and the U.S. continue to work with partners to enforce sanctions and promote counter-proliferation efforts around the world.
Canada-U.S. Cross-Border Crime Forum
The Canada-U.S. Cross-Border Crime Forum focuses on collaborative efforts to counter cross-border crime, examine how to make our communities safer and share experiences about work to ensure that our criminal justice systems are fair and effective. Discussion focuses on ways to enhance collaboration to combat the fentanyl/opioid crisis, reduce firearms trafficking and violence, anti-money laundering, human smuggling, sex offender travel and criminal justice reform.
On International Customs Day, and everyday, we thank our dedicated frontline border officers, international staff, and all Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees, who serve and protect our communities and shared border with professionalism and integrity.