Amid reports of travellers having their electronic devices searched at the United States border, along with a government travel advisory, many Canadian companies are looking for ways to protect their employees and their sensitive information.
“I am getting asked by some of my corporate clients how to help prepare their workers if they’re going into the U.S. for meetings or for work,” said Evelyn Ackah, founder and managing lawyer at Calgary-based Ackah Business Immigration Law.
While some companies are asking employees to avoid travel to the U.S. altogether, others are advising caution. And some are suggesting precautionary measures, such as
carrying burner phones
and clean laptops in order to protect confidential information.
Border officials in both countries have always had the right to check travellers’ electronics if they suspect criminality, but recent developments have made this a greater concern for border crossers, Ackah said.
A French scientist was denied entry to the U.S. after immigration officers searched his phone and found messages in which he had expressed criticism of the Trump administration, the French government said in March.
And news of Canadian entrepreneur Jasmine Mooney being detained by U.S. immigration authorities at the Mexican border for 12 days after trying to get her work visa renewed has fuelled anxiety for travellers.
In early April, the Canadian government updated its travel advisory for the U.S. on its website, advising travellers to “expect scrutiny at ports of entry, including of electronic devices,” and “comply and be forthcoming in all interactions with border authorities.”
“It doesn’t surprise me that (businesses have) concerns about their employees travelling,” Ackah said.
Companies may be concerned not only about their employees, but also confidential business information.
“There’s a risk that you’re going to have sensitive emails, documents or anything related to client data or personal data reviewed, copied or kept,” said Brian Dingle, partner and business immigration expert at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in Toronto. “If you’re concerned about proprietary or privileged communications, (you) do have to be very careful about having folks travel.”
Several organizations have recently told employees to try and avoid work travel to the U.S. or carry devices to protect confidential information.
The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario also asked staff to avoid travel to the U.S. and advised employees who must to carry burner phones, among other recommendations to protect patient information.
The University of Waterloo and University of Montreal have both issued travel advisories as well. The University of Montreal reminded staff to exercise caution, advising them to ensure devices do not include files with sensitive information and immediately change their passwords (if they must be provided to customs) afterwards.
The University of Waterloo sent out a memo to arts faculty who travel (to any country) stating they will be offered “clean” laptops for users to securely access resources without information remaining on the laptop.
Ackah said it was not unreasonable for organizations to recommend the use of burner phones or clean laptops. She has even heard from clients who were considering getting a laptop delivered to their hotel or buying a cheap laptop once they landed and accessing company information through two-factor authentication.
Some of her clients are outright avoiding travel to the U.S. and conducting virtual meetings as much as possible, but others in the manufacturing and engineering space, for example, often have less of a choice, she said.
Some travel agencies are seeing indications that
business travel
is decreasing along with the nosedive in leisure cross-border travel.
Vancouver-based The Travel Group Ltd. reported that its future bookings to the U.S. are down 90 per cent overall. “The little business we are currently booking to the U.S. is confined to corporate travel,” said McKenzie McMillan, a travel consultant with The Travel Group.
McMillan said some corporate clients have been “apprehensive” about allowing employees to travel south “due to perceived risks involved with additional scrutiny” at the border.
One corporate client has even cancelled all future bookings to the U.S., he said.
Recently, the Alberta Investment Management Corp., an Edmonton-based pension fund, asked its employees to
stop non-essential business trips
to the U.S. amid the
U.S.-Canada trade war
, Bloomberg News reported.
Chris Lynes, managing director of Flight Centre Travel Group Canada in Toronto, said there was a 10 per cent year-over-year decline in business travel to the U.S. through the agency’s Corporate Traveller division in February.
However, in March, business travel rebounded and was down just one per cent from the previous year, which Lynes speculated was due to businesses recovering from the initial shock of
tariffs
and attempting to re-solidify relationships with partners based in the U.S.
Several immigration lawyers said they had been contacted by concerned Canadian businesses about cross-border travel.
Chelsea Hsieh, a partner at KPMG Law LLP in Toronto who specializes in U.S. immigration law, said KPMG has been contacted about increased scrutiny at the border by companies of all sizes where employees engage in regular cross-border travel.
Hsieh said customs officers can examine a mobile phone and laptop without a warrant but “there is no expectation that this will occur for every traveller seeking admission into the U.S.”
Benjamin Green, a senior associate lawyer at Toronto-based immigration law firm Green and Spiegel, said there is little cause for concern for the average Canadian business traveller.
Carrying a burner phone could potentially elicit suspicion from border officials, Green said, so advised business travellers to have their proper documentation on hand, such as of their conference itinerary or hotel reservation, or even a letter of employment.
Travellers can refuse to present their electronic devices for inspection, Hsieh said, but risk being refused entry to the U.S. She advised becoming familiar with entry requirements and ensuring the purpose or nature of the trip aligns with the visa or admission category.
Other lawyers recommended employers rethink sending staff across the border altogether.
“I think employers and employees need to have those discussions about comfort level or not going (to the U.S.) at all,” Ackah said, adding that employers should take extra steps to protect employees who are visible minorities or transgender and may be more at risk due to the political climate.
Business travellers and their employers may need to be prepared for the possibility that the rules could change as well. The Canadian government’s travel guidelines for the U.S. were recently updated in March to note that Canadians travelling for more than 30 days into the U.S. must be registered with the American government or potentially face fines or jail time.
“We’re seeing changes to policy and regulatory shifts that are occurring very, very quickly,” said BLG’s Dingle. “And so (travellers) just need to be aware that this can change without notice while you’re in the U.S.”
Overall, “If you do need to go, (you should discuss) how you can best protect yourself and the information that you have on your technology,” Ackah said.
• Email: slouis@postmedia.com
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Border fears lead Canadian firms to advise burner phones, clean computers, travel bans
2025-04-21 10:00:58
