Preclearance Act, 2016 (S.C. 2017, c. 27)

Marginal note:Limitation

• 49 (1) A border services officer or other public officer is not permitted, in a preclearance area or preclearance perimeter, to exercise any powers of questioning or interrogation, examination, search, seizure, forfeiture, detention or arrest, except to the extent that such powers are conferred on the officer by the laws of the United States.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to an examination within the meaning of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

• Marginal note:Restriction

  (3) The authority that may designate or authorize a border services officer or other public officer to exercise powers, or perform duties or functions, under preclearance legislation or the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act may restrict or exclude the exercise of a power, or the performance of a duty or function, in a preclearance area or preclearance perimeter by the officer or by a class of border service officers or other public officers.

• Marginal note:No penalty or sanction — United States prosecution

  (4) No administrative monetary penalty or other civil sanction may be imposed with respect to an act or omission committed by a person in a preclearance area or preclearance perimeter if a prosecution for an offence is instituted in the United States with respect to the act or omission that would give rise to it. If such a prosecution is instituted after a penalty or sanction has been imposed, the penalty or sanction is a nullity and any payment in respect of it must be reimbursed.

Marginal note:Proceeds of crime — reporting

50 If a border services officer transfers, to a United States federal, state, tribal or local law enforcement agent, currency or a monetary instrument that was retained in a preclearance area or preclearance perimeter as a result of the application of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, the officer must, without delay, report the circumstances of the transfer to the President of the Canada Border Services Agency and to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada. The officer’s report must be provided in the form and manner that are specified by the Centre.

Marginal note:Detained goods

51 If goods are detained under the laws of the United States by a border services officer or other public officer in the course of preclearance, a border services officer or other public officer may, to the extent permitted by the laws of the United States, deal with those goods as if they were detained under the applicable preclearance legislation.

Detention and Delivery under Laws of the United States

Marginal note:For greater certainty

• 52 (1) For greater certainty, section 19 and subsection 27(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act do not operate so as to prevent a border services officer from, under the laws of the United States, detaining a person in a preclearance area or preclearance perimeter and delivering them into the custody of a United States federal, state, tribal or local law enforcement agent.

• Marginal note:Information

  (2) If a person or goods are detained under the laws of the United States in a preclearance area or preclearance perimeter by a border services officer and delivered into the custody of a United States federal, state, tribal or local law enforcement agent, a border services officer may disclose to the agent any information — including personal information, as defined in section 3 of the Privacy Act — that relates to the circumstances of that detention and delivery.

Exemption from Compliance on Entry into Canada

Marginal note:Exempt from further compliance

• 53 (1) If a traveller bound for Canada has fully met, in a preclearance area or preclearance perimeter, an obligation under preclearance legislation or under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that applies on entry into Canada, the traveller is exempt from again complying with that obligation once they enter Canada, unless a border services officer or other public officer requires the traveller to do so.

• Marginal note:Obligation under regulations

  (2) If a traveller bound for Canada has fully met, in a preclearance area or preclearance perimeter, an obligation under the regulations that is an adaptation of an equivalent obligation under preclearance legislation or under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that applies on entry into Canada, the traveller is exempt from complying with that equivalent obligation once they enter Canada, unless a border services officer or other public officer requires the traveller to do so.

• Marginal note:Officers

  (3) In this section, a reference to a “border services officer or other public officer” includes a reference to a person who is employed, designated or authorized as set out in the definition border services officer or other public officer in section 46 but who has not been assigned to conduct preclearance in the United States.

Withdrawal

Marginal note:Traveller may withdraw from preclearance

• 54 (1) Despite any preclearance legislation and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, every traveller bound for Canada, unless they are detained, may withdraw from preclearance and may leave a preclearance area or preclearance perimeter without departing for Canada.

• Marginal note:For greater certainty

  (2) For greater certainty, despite any obligation that would otherwise apply under section 47, under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act or under the regulations, a traveller who withdraws from preclearance is not required to answer any question asked of them for the purpose of conducting preclearance.

Marginal note:Traveller’s obligations

55 Subject to the laws of the United States, a traveller who withdraws from preclearance must

• (a) answer truthfully any question asked by a border services officer for the purpose of identifying the traveller or of determining their reason for withdrawing; and

• (b) comply with any other direction made by a border services officer that such an officer is authorized to make under the laws of the United States when a traveller withdraws.

Marginal note:Powers, duties and functions on withdrawal

56 After a traveller has indicated that he or she is withdrawing from preclearance, a border services officer or other public officer is not permitted to exercise any powers, or perform any duties or functions, other than those authorized under the laws of the United States when a traveller withdraws.

Regulations

Marginal note:Governor in Council

• 57 (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations

  • (a) adapting, for the purpose of applying it in a preclearance area or preclearance perimeter,

    • (i) any preclearance legislation described in paragraph (a) of the definition of that expression in section 46, or

    • (ii) any provision of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act or of regulations made under that Act; and

  • (b) restricting or excluding the application of any such preclearance legislation or provision in a preclearance area or preclearance perimeter.

• Marginal note:Different treatment

  (2) The regulations made under subsection (1) may distinguish between individual preclearance areas or individual preclearance perimeters and between classes of such areas or perimeters.

Offences — Acts or Omissions in Preclearance Area or Preclearance Perimeter

Marginal note:Deemed commission in Canada

• 58 (1) A person is deemed to have committed an act or omission in Canada if the act or omission is committed in a preclearance area or preclearance perimeter and, had it been committed in Canada, would constitute

  • (a) an offence, under any Act of Parliament other than the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, that relates to the entry of persons or importation of goods into Canada; or

  • (b) a conspiracy to commit, an attempt to commit, being an accessory after the fact in relation to, or any counselling in relation to, such an offence.

• Marginal note:Element of offence — entry or importation

  (2) For the purpose of determining whether an act or omission would constitute an offence referred to in paragraph (1)(a) or (b),

  • (a) if an element of the offence is the entry of a person into Canada, a person who is a traveller bound for Canada and who enters a preclearance area or preclearance perimeter is considered to have entered Canada; and

  • (b) if an element of the offence is the importation of goods into Canada, goods that are bound for Canada and that are brought into a preclearance area or preclearance perimeter are considered to have been imported into Canada.

• Marginal note:Jurisdiction

  (3) If a person is alleged to have committed an act or omission that is deemed to have been committed in Canada under subsection (1), proceedings for an offence in respect of that act or omission may be commenced in any territorial division in Canada. The person may be tried and punished for that offence as if the offence had been committed in that territorial division.

• Marginal note:Previously tried in the United States

  (4) If a person is alleged to have committed an act or omission that is deemed to have been committed in Canada under subsection (1) and they have been tried and dealt with in the United States for an offence in respect of the act or omission so that, if they had been tried and dealt with in Canada, they would be able to plead autrefois acquit, autrefois convict or pardon, they are deemed to have been so tried and dealt with in Canada.

• Marginal note:For greater certainty

  (5) For greater certainty, sections 135 and 136 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act apply with respect to an act or omission committed in a preclearance area or preclearance perimeter.