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ARTICLE · 26 APRIL 2022

A "Reasonable General Concern" – The Proposed New Standard For Searching Personal Electronic Devices At The Border

Since the release of the ABCA's ruling in Canfield 2020, there have been three important updates regarding the impugned provisions of the Customs Act and Canadians' privacy rights at the border.

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This blog post is an update to Raising expectations of privacy at the border – the search of personal electronic devices, a Dentons Commercial Litigation Blog published January 12, 2021, regarding the R v Canfield, 2020 ABCA 3831 decision in which the Alberta Court of Appeal (ABCA) declared s. 99(1)(a) of the Customs Act2 unconstitutional to the extent that it did not impose a limit on the search of personal electronic devices (PEDs) at the border.3

Since the release of the ABCA's ruling in Canfield 2020, there have been three important updates regarding the impugned provisions of the Customs Act and Canadians' privacy rights at the border. First, the Supreme Court of Canada denied leave to appeal of the Canfield 2020 decision,4 allowing the ABCA's declaration of unconstitutionality to stand; second, the ABCA, in R v Canfield, 2021 ABCA 3525 heard and granted an application by the Government of Canada requesting a six-month extension to the declaration of

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