Canada’s border agency, charged with enforcing the country’s firearm laws, has been caught failing to properly track or secure its own weapons, according to a damning internal audit.Blacklock's Reporter says auditors found widespread “gaps” in how the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) manages its duty firearms, ammunition, and security systems.“We found no evidence of formal regional oversight activities related to the safeguarding and inventory tracking of firearms and ammunition across the Agency,” said the Audit Of Duty Firearms.The report revealed that even after being warned of upcoming inspections, some managers failed to keep accurate records or verify their inventories. Regulations require firearm checks every 90 days, but auditors found most sites were either unaware of that rule or ignored it.“At 7 of 14 sites, management said these verifications were performed on a quarterly basis,” the audit said. .“The remaining sites were not aware of this requirement. The sites did not keep records of the verifications since there was no requirement by policy to report on results. Only one of the 15 sites had used the Manager’s Daily Firearm Inspection Checklist to conduct an annual inspection.”The CBSA began arming border officers in 2006, and by 2022, Transport Canada approved rules allowing armed customs officers to carry guns through airports without temporary permits. Today, roughly 6,500 agents are issued firearms from an inventory of 12,600 guns and 10 million rounds of ammunition..Despite the scale, auditors said there is no longer any independent oversight ensuring those weapons are properly accounted for. “Physical verifications by an independent oversight function were no longer performed,” the report noted.Security at some sites was also weak. A fifth of border crossings inspected did not have working surveillance cameras. “At 3 of 15 sites we observed gaps in access controls,” said the audit. “Intrusion alarms or closed-circuit television systems were not functioning. While these gaps were known, management was not concerned about day-to-day access to firearms and ammunition.”The findings follow another audit released September 24 that slammed CBSA’s handling of seized goods and cash. That report found 25% of currency seizures did not reconcile with records, raising the possibility of theft or loss.“Managing seized goods has been an ongoing challenge,” auditors warned. “We cannot state with certainty that these discrepancies are a result of human error versus asset misappropriation or loss.”
