(Bloomberg) --
President-elect Donald Trump has threatened tariffs of 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico until fentanyl and undocumented migrants stop flowing over US borders. Canada says it has a plan to boost border security — and points to US government data that show most of the problems come from Mexico.
Agents captured an average of 1,810 pounds of fentanyl a month at the US-Mexico border from January 2022 to October 2024, according to US Customs and Border Protection statistics. On the northern border, an average of 1.8 pounds a month was seized over the same period.
Still, Canadian government officials were quick to insist they’re working closely with the US to combat the “scourge” of fentanyl. The synthetic opioid is such a potent drug — roughly 50 times stronger than heroin — that only a few grains can be deadly. And precursor chemicals, which are often legal, are also an issue frequently mentioned by officials.
Last month, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they had busted the country’s largest-ever “super lab” in the west coast province of British Columbia. The lab contained fentanyl and precursors in large enough quantities to produce tens of millions of potentially lethal doses, police said. They also arrested a group with alleged connections to Mexican drug cartels.
The Canadian government has said criminal investigations and intelligence have identified China as the main source of fentanyl and its analogues entering the country.
US and Canadian authorities are sharing intelligence in the fight against fentanyl, Dominic LeBlanc, the Canadian minister responsible for border control, said Tuesday. “This work is done literally on a daily basis between law enforcement in Canada and the United States.”
The government has been talking with police and Canada’s border agency about “acquiring new technologies, drones, helicopters, additional human resources necessary,” LeBlanc said.
Port Problems
Transnational organized crime is active in British Columbia’s ports, and Canada is “clearly a source and a transhipment stop for vast quantities of drugs,” Peter German, a former deputy commissioner for the RCMP, said in a report commissioned the city of Delta, British Columbia, which abuts the border with the state of Washington.
“Right now our ports are well-protected — we have electronic fences and security guards to keep people out. But the concern is what’s going on inside the ports with respect to allegations of organized crime,” German said in an interview. “We question why Canada stopped having a ports police force in 1996.”
There is “no question” the US sees far more drug trafficking, illegal immigration and human trafficking at the Mexico crossing, German said. “It’s a huge issue on the southern border. I suspect the northern border pales by comparison, but that doesn’t mean it’s not an issue,” he said.
US Customs and Border Protection data show the number of migrants attempting to get into the US from Canada without authorization is about a tenth of those trying to enter from Mexico.
Encounters at the northern land border totaled almost 199,000 during the 12 months ended Sept. 30, compared with more than 2.1 million at the southern border. Those figures include people who are trying to get through regular border entry points but who lack the necessary paperwork or are deemed inadmissible for other reasons.
The number of people encountered by US border patrol trying to sneak into the US from Canada outside of regular ports of entry was 24,000, versus 1.5 million at the southern border. That’s according to US border agency statistics for the same 12-month period.
“It’s the equivalent on a yearly basis of a significant weekend at the Mexico border,” Immigration Minister Marc Miller said. Nevertheless, Canada takes the issue seriously because “we have a job, and it’s not to make our problems the Americans’ problems.”
“We need to secure the borders to remove this argument from Mr. Trump,” Quebec Premier Francois Legault said.
From Mexico’s perspective, it has worked to stem the tide of illegal migrants. Acting at the behest of the US, it clamped down on transit routes and rounded up migrants who congregated near the border, sending them to the south of the country. Restrictions on asylum put in place by the Biden administration earlier this year have also curtailed crossings into the US.
In Canada, Miller recently announced a tightening of the immigration system after the number of temporary residents — including foreign students — surged to record highs. A man on a Canadian student visa allegedly planned to kill Jews in New York on Oct. 7 this year, while a Minnesota jury found two men guilty in connection with a human smuggling scheme that brought people to Canada, then sent them on foot across the US border — where an Indian family froze to death.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, the front-runner to win the next Canadian election in 2025, said the visas of 4.9 million temporary residents are set to expire next year. (In fact, there are 4.9 million visas expiring, but multiple visas may be held by the same person.) The government has not made clear how it will enforce departures of those who aren’t allowed to stay, he said.
--With assistance from Brian Platt, Danielle Balbi, Derek Decloet, Laura Dhillon Kane and Mathieu Dion.
(Adds to Poilievre’s comments in final paragraph to reflect that multiple visas may be held by individuals.)
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