A Border Services Officer (BSO) is a federal law enforcement officer employed by the Canada Border Services Agency. BSOs are designated peace officers, 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. The arming initiative began in 2007 and will cover most officers in Canada by 2016.
Border Services Officers are trained at the CBSA Learning Centre, located in Rigaud, Quebec. The training begins with a 4-week online program called Pre-POERT, and a 18-week program called Port of Entry Recruit Training (POERT) which covers a range of topics from criminal law to customs legislations.
Read more about this topic: Canada Border Services Agency
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