Cross-Border Firearms Taskforce

Date: December 10, 2021
Study: Gun Control
Classification: Unclassified
Branch/Agency: IEB

CBSA-ATF Relationship:

Background:

On February 23, 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Joseph R. Biden met and unveiled the Roadmap for a Renewed U.S.-Canada Partnership, detailing commitments on various issues, including combatting firearms smuggling. Specifically, the roadmap outlined efforts to enhance law enforcement collaboration between the U.S. and Canada, including the reestablishment of the Cross-Border Crime Forum (CBCF) to strengthen information sharing, address justice reform and cross-border law enforcement challenges to make communities safer.

The President and Prime Minister also noted their common objective to reduce gun violence and directed officials to explore the creation of a cross-border task force to address gun smuggling and trafficking. To help address this challenge, the two countries have formed the Canada-United States Cross Border Firearms Task Force (CBFTF), under the CBCF, to be co-led by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for Canada and jointly by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) within the Department of Justice, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE/HSI) within the Department of Homeland Security for the U.S. Both countries intend to work together consistent with their respective domestic laws to identify the primary sources of illicit firearms and to disrupt their flow, and the exchange of illicit commodities for such firearms across the shared border.

CBSA-ATF Relationship:

The CBSA has been working with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will allow direct information-sharing. Currently, the CBSA is unable to directly share information with the ATF; to do so, an intermediary, such as the RCMP, must be used. This MOU will allow for the timely sharing of information and give both partners the ability to act quickly in regard to border related activities involving firearms and/or firearms-related materials. 

The Intelligence and Targeting Partnerships Unit has been working with the U.S. ATF Attaché in Ottawa to identify both partners’ needs. At the moment, the draft MOU is going through the necessary approval processes of the CBSA and it is expected to be shared with the ATF for their review before mid February of 2022. As this is an information-sharing arrangement a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) must also be prepared and submitted to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for approval. It is hoped that the PIA will be ready for submission prior to the end of the 2021–2022 fiscal year, and that once approval is received the MOU will be ready for signature.

In the meantime, the CBSA is able to benefit from ATF data and intelligence through other initiatives such as our direct involvement in the Ontario Provincial Police’s Provincial Weapons Enforcement Unit, which ATF is a part of; and through our relationship with the RCMP. In addition, the CBFTF provides another direct linkage to the ATF, as the ATF is a signatory to the Task Force.

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