Cross-border commercial shippers say they are “losing faith” in the aging IT infrastructure used by the Canada Border Services Agency to pre-clear goods coming into Canada, amid persistent technical glitches that have led to growing delays and financial costs.
It marks the second major issue with CBSA technical systems in recent months, which the agency and the federal government have vowed to address with an IT modernization plan.
At issue this time is the eManifest digital portal that allows importers to send data about their cargo to the CBSA prior to their arrival at the border. The system is meant to expedite the customs clearance process, which under normal circumstances only takes a few minutes.
Yet recurring outages in recent weeks have added hours of wait times for truck drivers, who are now being forced to submit paper documentation or otherwise wait for CBSA to move through digital backlogs that accumulate by the afternoon.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance said in a statement Thursday that the problems have become particularly acute this week at major border crossings in Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba, with clearances taking four to eight hours or longer.
“This means numerous drivers are being forced to sit idle in the U.S. for an entire work shift just waiting for the word ‘go,’” said Lak Shoan, the CTA’s policy and public affairs director.
A CBSA spokesperson told Global News it has been implementing its system outage contingency plan since April 18 and has been helping supply chain and government partners navigate alternative submission measures “to ensure the continued flow of goods.”
“While most of the issues have been resolved, we continue to clear a residual backlog and investigate the causes,” spokesperson Rebecca Purdy said.
“CBSA personnel have been working around the clock to restore system performance and resolve challenges, while also working directly with trade chain partners to move and release goods as quickly as possible to minimize disruptions.”
Purdy added the current technical issues and commercial shipping delays have had “no impact on border wait times for travellers.”
The commercial delays are leading to added costs for shippers that will ultimately be passed along to the price of the goods they’re carrying, the CTA said, fueling inflation.
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It estimated that a four-hour delay costs each truck an additional $300, creating a daily supply chain cost of $3.3 million, while an eight-hour delay roughly doubles those costs.
“Over a single week of these systemic failures, the ‘outage tax’ on Canadians’ groceries, medical supplies, and manufacturing parts can exceed $30 million to $45 million,” the CTA statement said.
The outages have persisted despite multiple workarounds and IT system updates seeking to solve the problem, the CTA added. While it says it is not “losing hope” that CBSA wants to solve the problem, “CTA members are losing faith [and believe] the current border technology utilized by CBSA is beyond repair.”
“The workarounds recently introduced by the CBSA, along with IT updates, show they are committed to keeping trucks moving, but the frustration for drivers and carriers continues to mount because they fear these failures are our new normal until this system is replaced,” said Shoan.
Plans to modernize systems after last year’s outage
Last fall, multiple outages affected the CBSA’s passenger inspection kiosks at Canadian airports, as well as inspection systems at land border crossings and the Passenger Protect Program — Canada’s “no-fly” list.
A joint investigation by the CBSA and Shared Services Canada, the Crown agency that provides IT services across government, found “human error” prior to a software upgrade on Sept. 28 caused the inspection outages that lasted until Oct. 5.
The outages resulted in a weeklong backlog of commercial shipments entering Canada at land, air and marine ports, and delays for international airport arrivals, the Oct. 31 joint report from the investigation said.
An emergency security patch on CBSA firewalls installed on Sept. 29 caused the issues with the Passenger Protect Program as well as the Interactive Advance Passenger Information system, which allows border agents to assess passenger data prior to boarding a flight.
The CBSA and Shared Services Canada committed to a number of improvements in training, communication and IT management as part of the joint review, some of which have been completed, with others in progress.
The report, which was updated April 17 — one day before the outage contingency plan was invoked — says consultations with “central agencies” on prioritizing the renewal of CBSA’s IT systems have been extended from March to May.
A fulsome system review that identifies safeguards to prevent future outages is expected to be completed by October.
The CTA called on the federal government to provide additional funding to allow for the action plan to be implemented, including modernizing CBSA systems.
Global News has reached out to Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree’s office for comment.
Last fall’s federal budget allocated just over $1 billion over the next four fiscal years, and $318.5 million ongoing, to Shared Services Canada for “modernizing government operations” but included no specific mention of CBSA’s IT infrastructure.
It said both CBSA and Shared Services Canada would be tasked with retiring outdated IT assets and equipment in order to save costs.
The spring economic update released this week makes no mention of Shared Services Canada, nor the CBSA’s IT modernization plan.
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Shippers ‘losing faith’ in CBSA tech systems amid ongoing outages, glitches
