Bill C-2: The Strong Borders Act and the Erosion of Canadian Freedoms
Why this omnibus security bill should concern every Canadian — and why you need to read it yourself.
Bill C-2, branded as The Strong Borders Act, is not just another piece of bureaucratic legislation — it’s a sweeping redefinition of what it means to be secure, free, and Canadian. Beneath its patriotic title lie hundreds of changes that would expand surveillance powers, weaken privacy protections, restrict asylum rights, and centralize ministerial control. Most Canadians haven’t read it — but they should.
👉 Read the full bill yourself on Parliament’s website.
🇨🇦 The Promise of “Strong Borders”
On the surface, the pitch sounds reasonable.
In an era of global migration crises, fentanyl trafficking, cybercrime, and cross-border smuggling, the government says Canada must “modernize and strengthen” its border enforcement.
That’s how The Strong Borders Act — Bill C-2 — was introduced on June 3, 2025. It amends everything from the Customs Act and Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to the Criminal Code, Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, Cannabis Act, and Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act.
It’s an omnibus bill — meaning dozens of complex changes packaged into one politically convenient vote. And that, in itself, is the first red flag.
Omnibus legislation is like a legislative buffet: buried within a few reasonable items are measures that no single MP would ever publicly champion. It’s legislative camouflage — and Bill C-2 may be the most ambitious example in years.
🧩 What Bill C-2 Actually Does
Bill C-2 spans hundreds of pages, but its key effects can be grouped into six main themes.
1. Border and Customs Power Expansion
The bill grants the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) the power to:
Authorities can open, inspect, and seize goods destined for export, even before they leave Canadian soil.
Demand that private infrastructure operators — bridges, tunnels, rail lines, airports, ports — provide free facilities and accommodations for CBSA officers.
Access bonded warehouses and other “sufferance” facilities at will.
At first glance, these powers sound aimed at smugglers. In reality, they redefine jurisdiction: the CBSA becomes not just the gatekeeper at the edge of Canada, but a roaming authority anywhere goods move within it.
2. Warrantless Access to Data and Communications
Bill C-2 expands the Criminal Code definition of “subscriber information.” That may sound minor — but it’s seismic in digital terms.
Police and intelligence agencies would gain the right to obtain subscriber data and transmission records — including information from foreign telecoms — without prior judicial authorization in certain “exigent circumstances.”
This is essentially warrantless access to private communications metadata.
The government insists it’s “limited” and “for public safety.” Civil-liberties scholars call it a constitutional minefield.
“When you expand surveillance in the name of safety, the scope of safety expands to justify more surveillance.”
— Citizen Lab preliminary analysis, June 2025
3. Mail and Private Communication
Under the Canada Post Corporation Act, Bill C-2 gives postal inspectors the right to open letters, not just parcels, if they suspect contraband or a violation.
That’s a profound shift. Since Confederation, “the sanctity of the sealed letter” has been treated as near-sacred. Bill C-2 normalizes intrusion into private correspondence — something once unthinkable in a democracy that prizes the privacy of communication.
4. Immigration and Refugee Restrictions
This may be the most politically charged section.
The bill alters the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act so that:
Refugee claimants who entered Canada irregularly (not at a port of entry) and applied for asylum more than one year after entry are automatically ineligible.
Cabinet gains new power to revoke or cancel study permits, work permits, and even permanent residence “in the public interest.”
Certain humanitarian protections become retroactively inapplicable to claims made before the bill’s introduction.
Human-rights groups argue this contravenes Canada’s international commitments under the 1951 Refugee Convention.
Amnesty International described it bluntly:
“Bill C-2 erodes the right to seek asylum, places life-and-death decisions in ministerial hands, and undermines decades of Canadian human-rights leadership.”
5. Anti-Money-Laundering and Financial Policing
The bill also rewrites large parts of Canada’s financial-crime enforcement system:
Prohibiting cash payments over $10,000, including for donations.
Mandating registration for every business subject to anti-money-laundering laws with FINTRAC.
Expanding FINTRAC’s data-sharing authority with both domestic and international agencies.
In theory, this targets money laundering. In practice, it subjects thousands of small businesses and non-profits to expensive compliance regimes — while eroding financial privacy.
6. Ministerial Discretion and Oversight Gaps
Perhaps the most worrying trend is that Bill C-2 vests significant new discretionary powers in ministers — from cancelling immigration documents to classifying substances to authorizing surveillance.
Yet nowhere in the bill is there an independent oversight mechanism.
No mention of external review, parliamentary approval for data-sharing agreements, or sunset clauses.
This lack of checks and balances transforms the executive branch into both rule-maker and enforcer — an arrangement that contradicts the spirit of responsible government.
🧠 The Broader Pattern: Security as a Pretext
If this feels familiar, it’s because it is.
In 2015, Canada passed Bill C-51, expanding CSIS powers in the name of anti-terrorism. Civil-rights groups warned then that surveillance powers would quietly creep into everyday life. A decade later, Bill C-2 repeats the same pattern — but this time, under the banner of “border security.”
Governments rarely relinquish the powers they acquire during crises.
Each new bill becomes the legal scaffolding for the next.
Bill C-2 extends “border security” logic into spheres that have nothing to do with borders — private communications, digital data, refugee eligibility, and financial transactions. The net widens; the oversight shrinks.
📡 Privacy and the Digital State
The digital sections of Bill C-2 deserve special scrutiny.
Today, “subscriber information” can reveal nearly everything about you:
Your identity, your location, your device, your communications patterns, and — through data-matching — your social network.
When law enforcement can access that data without a warrant, it effectively creates a national tracking system without judicial oversight.
Even if the intent is noble, the infrastructure is permanent.
Once the surveillance apparatus exists, future governments — of any party — can expand its use.
Privacy isn’t the enemy of security. It’s the foundation of trust.
A state that forgets that lesson risks becoming one that must be feared to be respected.
🌍 Human Rights and Refugee Protections
Canada has long prided itself on being a refuge for those fleeing persecution.
Bill C-2 changes that narrative.
By restricting eligibility for asylum seekers entering at unofficial crossings — and retroactively applying those limits — the government effectively weaponizes geography. A person escaping violence who walks across a field into Manitoba could now be denied the right even to apply for protection.
This is a seismic shift in principle.
It redefines refugee protection not as a human right, but as an administrative privilege — one that can be withdrawn at the stroke of a pen.
Greenpeace Canada called it “a Trump-inspired approach to border management.” Whether or not that comparison is fair, it captures a growing fear:
That Canada’s compassion is being rewritten out of its laws.
💰 Economic and Civic Fallout
Beyond human rights and privacy, Bill C-2 could have real-world consequences for ordinary Canadians and small businesses.
Small business owners will face new reporting obligations under the expanded AML rules, even if they’re nowhere near the border.
Port authorities and airports may bear the cost of constructing CBSA facilities “free of charge,” a cost ultimately passed to travellers and consumers.
Charities and political groups may be constrained by cash-handling restrictions, reducing civic engagement.
Ordinary Canadians could see delays, mail interceptions, and intrusive data collection justified under vague “national interest” clauses.
Each measure may sound small. But together, they form a web of administrative control — subtle, pervasive, and hard to unwind.
🗣️ What Canadians Should Be Asking
The most important thing citizens can do right now is ask tough, specific questions:
Who watches the watchers?
Where is the independent oversight for CBSA, RCMP, and intelligence agencies empowered under Bill C-2?What happens to the data?
How long is it stored? Who has access? Which foreign governments will receive copies?What about refugees?
How does this bill align with Canada’s commitments under the Refugee Convention and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms?Why omnibus?
If these changes are vital, why not pass them as separate, transparent bills? Why hide privacy reform inside customs amendments?Where is Parliament’s role?
Does the public even understand how this bill alters the balance between elected representatives and unelected agencies?What’s the exit plan?
If these powers are abused or prove unnecessary, is there a mechanism to repeal them?
🗳️ The Democratic Duty to Read
This is where you come in.
Don’t rely on sound bites or political talking points — read the bill yourself:
👉 https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/45-1/c-2
Yes, it’s long. Yes, it’s full of legalese. But democracy is built on informed citizenship. Every paragraph is a policy that will shape the country your children inherit.
🔦 The Choice Before Us
At its core, Bill C-2 poses a moral and civic question:
Do Canadians want a safer state — or a freer one?
Of course, we all want both. But history shows that safety and freedom often exist in tension, and power rarely flows back to the people once given away.
The risk isn’t that Canada will suddenly become authoritarian.
The risk is gradual normalization — the quiet acceptance of extraordinary powers as the “new normal.”
When you combine warrantless data access, expanded search authority, and reduced refugee rights, the cumulative effect is profound: a legal architecture of control.
And that’s something no democratic society should sleepwalk into.
🕊️ Final Word: Ask, Read, Resist Complacency
If you care about privacy, freedom of speech, refugee rights, or simply the principle that government power must be answerable to the people, this bill demands your attention.
Read it. Don’t take anyone’s summary — including this one — at face value.
Share it. Talk about it at dinner tables, in classrooms, and online.
Question it. Write to your MP. Ask for plain-language explanations and public hearings.
Hold them accountable.
Because the line between a strong border and a closed society is thinner than most realize.
And once crossed, it’s rarely walked back.
📜 Reference:
Full text of Bill C-2: https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/45-1/c-2