Fact Sheet

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July 2005

Fairness Initiative

The Canada Border Services Agency's (CBSA) Fairness Initiative is designed to ensure that all Canadians and visitors to Canada receive high-quality service at the border and throughout all their dealings with the CBSA.

This Initiative is built on six pillars: respect and courtesy, fair application of the law, privacy and confidentiality, bilingual service, accurate information about entitlements and obligations, and review of our actions or decisions.

The Fairness Initiative provides an opportunity to:

• increase our understanding of clients' needs and expectations;
• increase clients' understanding of our role;
• identify business improvements;
• gain greater cooperation and improve communication with our clients;
• increase public support for the organization;
• deal with complaints quickly and fairly before they become major disputes; and
• let us learn what we need to know to improve our service to you.

The CBSA recognizes clients' right to comment and we will actively solicit feedback from them. We aim to investigate complaints effectively and promptly. At all times we will be honest and fair in our dealings with clients.

The CBSA will:

• treat clients with respect, courtesy and fairness at all times;
• treat clients' comments confidentially;
• not discriminate against clients for any reason;
• address all comments or concerns; and
• issue a full response.

The CBSA will enhance the complaints and compliments process by increasing its capabilities to respond to clients' comments and concerns. This will allow Canadians and visitors to Canada to report and resolve border related issues quickly and easily.

The CBSA is looking at other border organizations' approach to fairness in order to establish the best system possible for Canadians and visitors to Canada.

Until the Fairness Initiative is established, the CBSA encourages its clients to provide feedback on how they were treated at the border, by speaking to a manager on-site or by contacting the local CBSA office at a later date.

The CBSA is unwavering in its commitment to ensuring the safety and security of Canadians, while preserving the fundamental rights and freedoms by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

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