Anti-Smuggling Investments in the CBSA and RCMP

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

Proposed Response:

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

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:

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:

Funding breakdown
Dept. Initiative Over 5 years Ongoing
RCMP Enhanced CFP services to Canadians $79.2M $10.5M
Increase capacity to trace crime guns $15.0M $3.3M
Anti-smuggling investment $40.3M $5.5M
Seed Funding for buyback program $1.7M $0.0M
Direct Program Support $7.7M $0.7M
Internal Services $13.6M $2.0M
CBSA AI and networked threat detection $1.4M $0.0M
Threat detection at the land and marine border $6.4M $0.75M
Enhanced Intelligence and investigative capacity $13.8M $3.1M
Legislative regulatory and policy development $7.8M $0.0
Force generation $1.1M $0.38M
Internal services $5.2M $1.1M
PS Legislative, regulatory and policy development $9.1M $0.0
Public awareness campaign $3.5M $0.0
Internal services $2.1M $0.0

* Total numbers have been rounded

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