1 in 4 border officers witnessed colleagues discriminate against travellers: internal report

One-quarter of front-line employees surveyed at Canada's border agency in March 2020 said they had directly witnessed a colleague discriminate against a traveller in the previous two years.

Of these respondents, 71 per cent suggested the discrimination was based, in full or in part, on the traveller'srace, and just over three-quarters of respondents cited the traveller's national or ethnic origin.

The figures are drawn from a survey that was conducted as part of an internal Canada Border Services Agency evaluation, which looked at how the agency processed travellersusing a lens of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability, and the interaction between these factors.

The agency recently posted the evaluation results, which focused primarily on people flying into Canada, on its website.

Part of the research included a survey of922 border services officers and superintendents between March 2 andMarch 22, 2020.

Of those who said they saw a colleague engage in discrimination, just over two in five did not report what they observed. Some mentioned fear of reprisal or simply feeling uncomfortable.