Canada can’t secure its borders with yesterday’s tools
Wild creatures from far-off places cross our border every day: exotic, sometimes endangered animals that can threaten ecosystems, public health, and the economy. They are camouflaged in data, complexity, and enforcement gaps.
Yet, despite a Liberal election promise to use modern digital solutions to combat illegal wildlife trade, an already-developed and tested tool recently disappeared from the Canada Border Services Agency’s plans. Can Canada afford to keep using yesterday’s tools for today’s problems?
Trafficking in all manners of wild animals and plants is a $250-billion global industry, making it one of the most lucrative forms of organized crime. Canada is not a bystander. It is a destination, a transit point and in some cases, a source. During the INTERPOL-led Operation Thunder in December 2025, Canadian officers intercepted more than 500 wildlife contraband items, including ivory, rhinoceros-horn powder, bear bile, and live reptiles. That’s what was caught. The harder question is what wasn’t.
Despite advances in technology and intelligence, border security still relies heavily on more officers, inspections, and physical infrastructure. Those investments matter, but they cannot keep pace with the complexity of modern trade. We are asking generalist border services officers to make specialist decisions in a highly complex, data-heavy environment without giving them the tools to do it efficiently.
That's why the federal government's push to modernize border security using smart technology is not just timely; it's essential. Yet, it is treated like an optional upgrade rather than core infrastructure.
The Nature Intelligence System (NIS), an AI-powered tool tested by the Canada Border Services Agency, has demonstrated exactly what smarter border security looks like. It analyzes trade, scientific, and regulatory data in real time, helping officers flag high-risk shipments and supports making better-informed decisions of what gets inspected. It’s not just incremental improvements—it’s the difference between prevention and failure.
In 2023, the NIS was solidified in CBSA’s Sustainable Development Strategy, stating “The NIS will help improve monitoring, tracking and the prevention of invasive alien species. As a result, the CBSA’s programming will support the global effort to protect biodiversity and ensure safe and healthy food systems.”
In 2025, this language disappeared without a trace from the CBSA report. Ironically, the same year, the Liberal election platform promised to support “nature conservation internationally, including by stopping illegal wildlife trade across our borders with modern digital solutions”, a promise that would clearly be fulfilled by implementing the NIS.
Despite clear successful results, the NIS has not yet been funded or implemented. Meanwhile, the government has already committed billions of dollars towards border modernization, including $1.3-billion in broader border investments and over $600-million to strengthen detection and interception capacity.
Smart technology is about augmenting officers’ capacity, giving them the AI equivalent of a wildlife specialist sitting beside them, processing vast amounts of data and identifying potential threats in seconds. No amount of hiring will scale to meet the volume and complexity of modern trade flows.
This is not a niche environmental issue. It is a national security, economic and public health issue rolled into one.
It lowers the likelihood of zoonotic disease entering the country, a risk made concrete by a 2019-2021 outbreak of salmonella linked to pet snakes and feeder rodents that infected 106 people across seven provinces.
It's also cost-effective. Implementation is estimated at $1-million to $2-million in initial funding, with potential cost recovery through penalties and enforcement outcomes. Plus, the avoided costs of ecological damage and other harms are invaluable. In a federal budget measured in the hundreds of billions, this is pocket change.
Promises must translate into deployment and integration across agencies. Success must be measured in outcomes, not announcements. The government can show it is serious about tackling illegal wildlife trade and modernizing border security by turning successful pilot projects like the NIS into permanent tools.
The threats have already evolved. Canada’s response needs to catch up.
Colin Saravanamuttoo is the executive director of World Animal Protection Canada. With more than 20 years of senior leadership experience across the non-profit, private and public sectors, he has led national and international organizations through transformational change and public policy advocacy.
Sheldon Jordan is an environmental crime and conservation management specialist with more than 30 years of experience combating wildlife crime and other forms of environmental offending in Canada and internationally. He is a former director general of Wildlife Enforcement at Environment and Climate Change Canada, former chair of INTERPOL’s Wildlife Crime Working Group, and currently serves as a special adviser to the Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime.
The Hill Times