At least the waiting no longer takes place in a suffocating basement. But the many renovations in recent years do not prevent travelers arriving at Montreal-Trudeau airport from having to wait sometimes for hours before being able to return to the country, since the problem is rather the lack of staff. The situation could worsen if it is not properly taken into account by the Canada Border Services Agency, fears the Customs and Immigration Union.
Front row witness to extended wait times experienced by travelers entering Canada in recent days, customs union criticizes ‘poorly planned half-measures’ contained in Border Services Agency’s 2022 Action Plan (ASFC) to improve border fluidity during the summer period. The organization calculates that it currently lacks between 1,000 and 3,000 agents, at the dawn of a holiday period that promises to be about as busy as during the best years before the pandemic.
A sign that traffic at Montreal International Airport has recovered strongly from its pandemic low, passenger traffic embarked and disembarked last April was equivalent to 72% of April 2019 traffic, according to the most up-to-date data. Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) day.
“For the month of May, we can estimate a recovery of nearly 80% of passenger traffic in 2019,” said Eric Forest, spokesperson for ADM. “We anticipate that these numbers will also have increased for the month of June,” he adds.
Insufficient measures
“We are concerned that the measures proposed by the Agency [des services frontaliers] only serve to further inconvenience travelers and jeopardize border security,” National Customs and Immigration Union President Mark Weber said in a statement Monday. ” The Minister [fédéral de la Sécurité publique] Marco Mendicino and the CBSA must increase the number of officers without delay in order to prevent the services offered to travelers from being further reduced. »
The union deplores the very fact of the imposition of stricter work measures on agents already employed by the federal agency, a short-term strategy which, according to it, will not correct the situation in the long term. The Action Plan, observes the union, is a set of “ill-planned half-measures”, such as compulsory overtime, the extension of assignments and the categorical denial of discretionary leave.
Result: Canadian and foreign travelers returning to the country will have to be patient this summer, and perhaps during the next few seasons. “As Canadians start to travel again, the CBSA is ill-equipped to deal with the increased flow of travelers at the borders, and the government is not ready to change course,” fears Mark Weber. “If the government is serious about eliminating long wait times for years to come, it needs to hire more officers. »
Reliable models
For its part, the Canada Border Services Agency relies on its analyzes and traffic forecasts and says it is able to deploy resources to the right place at the right time. This approach “has served border agents well over the past summers, with traveler service being effectively balanced with our security and safety responsibilities,” she explained in an email to To have to.
The agency says it is aware of the increase in traffic at border crossings and airports in recent weeks and therefore promises to add resources as needed. As examples, she cites the addition of kiosks at major airports across the country and the deployment of student border agents to help accommodate more travellers.
For his part, the Minister of Public Security Marco Mendicino says he is open to suggestions from the customs union to help respond to the increase in passenger traffic entering the country. “Minister Mendicino appreciates the ideas raised by the Customs and Immigration Union, and looks forward to meeting with them in the very near future,” he told the To have to his press officer Audrey Champoux.
“We share the goal of ensuring that all Canadians can travel this summer without hassle or undue delays and that CBSA officers must be properly supported in carrying out their important work. »
With Clemence Pavic