CBSA to Begin Collecting Personal Information at Ambassador, Blue Water and Cornwall Crossings July 30

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has announced that starting July 30, all Ports of Entry (POE), including the Ambassador Bridge, Blue Water Bridge and Cornwall crossings, will began collecting personal contact information from exempt travellers (symptomatic or asymptomatic), including truck drivers that cross the border. 

The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) had previously announced that CBSA would be collecting personal data at multiple ports of entry with a planned phased-in approach and roll out to additional ports of entry in the coming weeks. Reports have indicated that some delays and queueing have occurred at some POEs when the policy was first introduced earlier this month. Personal information is only collected once and does not need to be re-entered when a truck driver crosses the border again. 

As OTA reported last week, commercial truck drivers are encouraged to use the ArriveCAN app prior to arrival at a POE to reduce the need for exchange of information and input by the Border Services Officer in the Primary Inspection Line, and ultimately prevent excessive Border Wait Times and processing times. 

The ArriveCAN app will only collect information needed to promote and confirm compliance under the Government of Canada’s Emergency Orders. Information collected includes contact information, and self-reported symptoms.

The app does not use any other technology or data, such as GPS, to monitor self-isolation. The protection of Canadians’ personal information is a priority for the Government of Canada and any tool used to collect personal information undergoes a rigorous privacy assessment.