Border Services Officer
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A Border Services Officer is a law enforcement agent employed by the Canada Border Services Agency, a federal government department of Canada. BSOs are designated peace officers in Canada, and primarily enforce customs and immigration-related legislation, in particular the Customs Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act as well as over 90 other Acts of Parliament. Because of their peace officer designation, they also have the power to enforce other Acts of Parliament, including the Criminal Code of Canada. Border Services Officers are equipped with handcuffs, oleoresin capsicum (OC) spray, batons, and are currently being armed with Beretta PX4 Storm pistols at major land borders. The arming initiative will cover most officers in Canada over the next 10 years.
Border Services Officers are trained at the CBSA Learning Centre, located in Rigaud, Quebec. The training begins with 4 weeks done online called Pre-POERT and then a 9-week program called Port of Entry Recruit Training (POERT), which covers a range of topics from criminal law to customs brokerage.
