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    • Frontex and CBSA sign new Working Arrangement

    2026-10-30

    Frontex Executive Director Hans Leijtens and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) President Erin O’Gorman signed a new Working Arrangement on Operational Cooperation in Montréal on 30 October, during the EU–Canada summit.

    The arrangement deepens cooperation between the two agencies on migration management, information exchange, risk analysis and cross-border crime. Closer cooperation is intended to help tackle migrant smuggling, trafficking in human beings, and document and identity fraud. 

    It also opens up opportunities for training, professional exchanges and cooperation on research, technology and innovation, including the exchange of best practices on border management tools. The arrangement provides a framework for exchanging information and analysis within EUROSUR, the European Border Surveillance System, subject to operational plans agreed between the two agencies. 

    The agencies do not intend to exchange personal data under the arrangement; any exceptional transfer would be subject to the data-protection rules that apply to each of them. Personal-data exchanges are expressly excluded within EUROSUR and for individual return, readmission or reintegration purposes. 

    Cooperation under the arrangement is subject to human rights safeguards. Frontex’s independent Fundamental Rights Officer may monitor activities carried out under it, including through visits to Canada in cooperation with CBSA. 

    Frontex and CBSA signed their first working arrangement in Warsaw in October 2010, making Canada one of Frontex’s first partners outside Europe. Their cooperation has included exchanging expertise on fraudulent documents, observer activities and traveller authorisation. Canada’s electronic travel authorisation (eTA) programme has helped inform the development of the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), for which Frontex hosts the Central Unit.

    Quotes

    “Expanding our partnership with Frontex marks an important step forward in strengthening Canada’s border security and sovereignty. Through closer cooperation, we can combine our expertise and technological knowledge to help combat transnational crime and keep communities on both sides of the Atlantic safe.” Erin O’Gorman, President, Canada Border Services Agency
    “A lot has changed since we first signed a working arrangement with the CBSA in 2010, not least in the way criminal networks work. They adapt quickly, including in their use of technology, and keeping pace with them requires close cooperation and sharing our expertise. That cooperation cannot stop at the edge of a continent. Our partnership with Canada rests on a shared idea of excellence in border management: effective, within the law, and trusted by the people it serves.” Hans Leijtens, Executive Director, Frontex

    Background

    Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, supports EU Member States and Schengen-associated Countries in managing the EU’s external borders, tackling cross-border crime and supporting return operations. The Agency has working arrangements with authorities in 17 non-EU countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States. 

    The new Working Arrangement is an administrative instrument concluded under Frontex’s current mandate. It sits alongside broader EU–Canada cooperation, including the EU–Canada Security and Defence Partnership, which covers shared challenges such as hybrid threats. 

    Media contact

    Frontex Press Office: press@frontex.europa.eu