Refugees entering Canada only need to hit a few buttons on their phones to claim asylum, an official has revealed, as authorities blame staffing shortages for a dire lack of security screening at the border.
Mark Weber, president of the Customs and Immigration Union, said at a meeting this week that refugee claimants are being allowed into Canada without going through security screening.
‘In essence – to speed things up because we are short-staffed – we are allowing people into the country without first doing that security screening,’ Weber told the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration on Tuesday.
The process currently functions on an honor system, where claimants would submit biometrics and basic information through a questionnaire on an app.
A ‘high risk’ claimant would have to complete an in-person application, but those deemed ‘low risk’ have 45 days after crossing into the country to complete their required forms.
Weber addressed the committee during a meeting regarding Bill C-12, known as the ‘Strong Borders Act,’ which proposes restrictions on a person’s eligibility for asylum, among other measures.
He told Parliamentarians that the current system is relying on illegitimate and hostile abusers of the system to ‘self-declare that they’re here for no good.’
He criticized Canadian Border Security Agency’s ‘One Touch’ model, which launched nationally in 2022 after the system struggled to keep up with high volumes of asylum seekers.
Mark Weber, president of the Customs and Immigration Union, said at a meeting this week that refugee claimants are being allowed into Canada without going through security screening
Footage from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police of people crossing the Manitoba border into Canada in February 2025
Weber criticized Canadian Border Security Agency’s ‘One Touch’ model, which launched nationally in 2022 after the system struggled to keep up with high volumes of asylum seekers
Budget 2025 promised to hire 1,000 new CBSA officers, but Weber said that staffing shortages are over twice that number, the Toronto Sun reported.
‘The technology we see the CBSA putting into place is all about self-declaration – it’s about the traveler, the refugee claimant, doing everything on their own because we simply don’t have the staff to do proper interviews and do what we did previously,’ he reportedly said during the meeting. ‘We need that to stop.’
The system allows for ‘low-risk’ claimants to be processed without the man power, when previous claimants would have to complete their application with an officer present.
‘That was our opportunity to ask follow-up questions, make sure that the claim is genuine. We could look for things like indications of coaching, human smuggling, that kind of thing,’ he told CBC on Thursday.
According to Weber, around ten percent of claimants don’t even fill out the form and CBSA officers are then tasked with tracking them down for removal, the outlet reported.
‘We’re not verifying anyone’s story at all. The ability for us to confirm whether or not their story is genuine has really been removed… It’s exactly the people with the greatest motivation to not self-declare who are going to be the ones who don’t self-declare and don’t report back,’ he continued.
‘They essentially disappear into Canada.’
According to Weber, around ten percent of asylum claimants don’t even fill out the necessary forms and CBSA officers are then tasked with tracking them down for removal
Vice President of CBSA Intelligence and Enforcement Aaron McCrorie defended the processes as having ‘multiple layers of defense’
During Tuesday’s meeting, Weber stressed the importance of human interactions at the border for maintaining security, but said the lack of staff was making it impossible.
He added that human interaction between border officers and those crossing into Canada produces ‘better intelligence’ and allows officers a better chance to catch patterns and warning signs ‘that would otherwise be missed.’
‘Claimants spend significantly less time meaningfully interacting with officers, with the result of reduced security for the sake of expediency,’ Weber continued, the Toronto Sun reported.
According to Canadian government data, the country processed 89,385 asylum claims at land, air and sea ports of entry.
Many of those seeking asylum were found to originate from Haiti, India, Nigeria and Iran, according to reports.
However, during Tuesday’s meeting, Vice President of CBSA Intelligence and Enforcement Aaron McCrorie defended the processes as having ‘multiple layers of defense.’
‘Somebody claiming asylum out of port of entry, 100 percent of them will spend time, and considerable amount of time, with the border services officer to do that initial risk assessment,’ he said.
McCrorie added that the duty of officers at that time is to ‘understand who you are, to assess whether you’re admissible into the country, eligible to make a claim and establish your identity.’
According to McCrorie, the biometrics and information submitted upon entry is cross referenced against border security and law enforcement data.
‘It’s a very rigorous process. Is it perfect? No, there is no perfect system. And that’s why we have subsequent layers of defense,’ McCrorie said, according to CBC.
The Daily Mail reached out to the CBSA for comment.
