The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) recently participated in a multi-stakeholder roundtable hosted by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and Shared Services Canada (SSC). The session provided industry partners with an overview of the ongoing IT outage challenges and the improvement plan proposed by the agencies, including next steps on how the federal government and trade chain partners will work collaboratively to address these issues moving forward.
The roundtable followed a series of recurring IT outages in 2025, which reached a breaking point last fall when CBSA systems experienced a significant software failure. The outage caused widespread supply chain disruptions that lasted several days. In response, the Minister of Public Safety, the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, released a report and action plan outlining corrective measures to address the issue.
The meeting opened with introductory remarks from Minister Anandasangaree, who acknowledged industry frustrations, noting that the timing and frequency of the outages were particularly challenging and unacceptable for Canadian businesses. The Minister also stated that a portion of the funding allocated to CBSA in Budget 2025 will be directed toward stabilizing the agency’s IT systems.
CBSA President Erin O’Gorman emphasized the agency’s awareness of the economic impacts on the business community, underscoring the importance of moving away from legacy systems and strengthening contingency planning.
SSC President Scott Jones reiterated the federal government’s commitment to resolving this complex and layered issue, which will require coordinated, multi-departmental collaboration and a range of technical and operational solutions.
CBSA and SSC also outlined the introduction of a 10-point action plan addressing areas such as communications and engagement, crisis management, IT change management and other key priorities. The plan will remain an evergreen process, evolving as issues are identified and resolved.
“The Alliance and our members appreciate the work that has already begun to address these recurring outages and recognize the complexity involved,” said Lak Shoan, Director of Policy and Industry Awareness Programs at CTA. “While efforts to stabilize systems and reduce the frequency and duration of outages are an important step, a significant and timely commitment from the Government of Canada and the Treasury Board of Canada is urgently needed to modernize and replace legacy IT systems that can no longer keep pace with today’s trade environment.”