Government of Canada introduces new streamlined legislation to strengthen border security and keep Canadians safe

OTTAWA, ON, Oct. 8, 2025 /CNW/ - Today, the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Public Safety introduced Bill C-12, the Strengthening Canada's Immigration System and Borders Act, to strengthen immigration and border security, protect Canadians, and keep our communities safe.

The Bill reinforces the Government's commitment to equipping law enforcement agencies with the right tools to keep our borders secure. It draws on the elements of Bill C-2 to combat transnational organized crime, stop the flow of illegal fentanyl, crack down on money laundering, dismantle criminal networks, and improve the integrity our immigration system.

The new Bill C-12 was introduced to enable Parliament to pass these priorities to protect Canadians while permitting additional time to evaluate the other measures announced in June 2025.

This new Bill includes:

Securing the border

• Amend the Customs Act to secure our borders against illicit drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, and auto theft:
  • obligating owners and operators at certain ports of entry/exit to provide, equip, and maintain facilities for any purpose related to the administration and enforcement of the Canada Border Service Agency's (CBSA) mandate which includes the examination and detention of goods destined for export;
  • allowing the CBSA access to premises under the control of transporters and warehouse operators to perform examinations in places where goods destined for export are reported, loaded, unloaded, or stored.
• Amend the Oceans Act to add security-related activities to coast guard services, which will enable the Canadian Coast Guard to conduct security patrols and collect, analyze and disseminate information and intelligence for security purposes;
• Enhance the ability of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to share information collected on registered sex offenders with domestic and international law enforcement partners;
• Protect the asylum system against sudden increases in claims by introducing new ineligibility rules;
• Improve how asylum claims are received, processed, and decided;
• Strengthen authorities to cancel, suspend or change immigration documents, and to cancel, suspend or stop accepting new applications; and 
• Improve how client information is shared within Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and with federal, provincial and territorial partners.

Combatting transnational organized crime, illegal fentanyl, and illicit financing

• Amending the accelerated scheduling pathway that allows precursor chemicals that can be used to produce illicit drugs to be rapidly controlled by the Minister of Health. This will allow law and border enforcement agencies to take swift action to prevent the illegal importation and use of precursor chemicals and will ensure strict federal oversight over any legitimate use of these chemicals;
• Strengthen Canada's anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regime, including through stronger anti-money laundering penalties;
• Enhance supervisory collaboration and support high standards of regulatory compliance by adding the Director of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) to the Financial Institutions Supervisory Committee (FISC) and enabling FINTRAC to exchange supervisory information on federally regulated financial institutions with FISC.

Bill C-2 will continue to advance the elements that would facilitate law enforcement access to basic and subscriber information to reach online criminals, introduce the Supporting Authorized Access to Information Act and work with Canada Posts to stop fentanyl and other drugs from travelling through the mail. C-2 also introduces new restrictions on third-party deposits, large cash transfers, and clarify public to private information sharing provisions in order to target organized crime and prevent money laundering. 

Quote

"The Government of Canada is committed to keeping our communities safe and working with our American partners to further strengthen our border. Bill C-12 will help advance key legislative changes needed now that will further equip our border and law enforcement agencies with the authorities and resources they need. We are ready to work with our colleagues in Parliament to ensure this important legislation becomes law."

-       The Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Public Safety

Quick Facts 

• Through Canada's Border Plan, the Government of Canada is investing $1.3 billion in concrete action to keep communities safe on both sides of the border.
• The Border Plan provides $200 million to Public Safety Canada and the Communications Security Establishment Canada to support enhanced gathering of intelligence on transnational organized crime and illegal fentanyl, and to enable sharing with law enforcement partners across Canada and the United States.
• It also provides $743.5 million over five years, including $159.5 million ongoing, to support the stability and integrity of Canada's asylum system, increasing processing and decision-making capacity.
•  In recent years, the Government has invested more than $379 million to strengthen the effectiveness of Canada's Anti-Money Laundering/Anti-Terrorist Financing Regime. These efforts include legislative and regulatory changes such as providing new tools to law enforcement, adding new criminal offences and strengthening penalties, enhancing information sharing, expanding the Regime to new sectors at risk of money laundering, and providing the CBSA with new authorities to pursue trade-based money laundering.
• The Government of Canada is committed to recruiting 1,000 more RCMP personnel to tackle drug and human trafficking, foreign interference, cybercrime, and the organized criminal gangs, as well as to the hiring of over 1000 additional CBSA personnel, including border services officers, intelligence analysts and specialized chemists, and the training of up to 9 new detector dog teams.

Associated Links

• Understanding Bill C-12
• Strengthening border security
• Canada's engagement with the United States
• Launch of the Joint Operational Intelligence Cell
• Financial crime investigators and prosecutors collaborate on latest money laundering threats
• Government of Canada lists seven transnational criminal organizations as terrorist entities
• Government of Canada expands plan to strengthen border security
• Government of Canada announces its plan to strengthen border security and our immigration system
• Government launches new intelligence sharing partnership focused on fentanyl trafficking and other criminal use of funds

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SOURCE Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada

Contacts: Simon Lafortune, Deputy Director of Communications and Press Secretary, Office of the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Public Safety, [email protected]; Media Relations, Public Safety Canada, 613-991-0657, [email protected]; Media Relations, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 613-952-1650, [email protected]; Media Relations, Canada Border Services Agency, 1-877-761-5945, [email protected]; Media Relations, Department of Finance Canada, [email protected], 613-369-4000; Media Relations, Health Canada, 613-957-2983, [email protected]; Media Relations, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, [email protected]; Media Relations, Department of Justice Canada, 613-957-4207, [email protected]