Misconduct investigations and disciplinary measures statistics

The CBSA is a law enforcement agency made up of professionals who are trained to carry out their responsibilities with respect, integrity, honesty and accountability. Our employees are responsible for conducting themselves at all times in a way that upholds the public interest and is in keeping with the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector and the CBSA Code of Conduct.

CBSA Professional Standards reviews allegations of Code of Conduct violations by CBSA employees, and conducts formal Professional Standards Investigations as required; and provides direction to management on conducting less complex investigations. The findings of these investigations are provided to CBSA Labour Relations who, in turn, take appropriate action when there is evidence of misconduct.

The following chart provides statistical information on the number of both management-led and professional standards investigations conducted and their outcomes.

Misconduct investigations

Year	Unfounded	Founded	InconclusiveTable note 1
2023	102	341	34
2022	84	212	18
2021	50	190	21
2020	75	215	23
2019	33	171	8
2018	81	255	10
2017	53	224	8
2016	39	166	15
2015	29	133	17
2014	28	106	12
Table note Table note 1 The evidence could neither confirm nor refute the allegation. Return to table note 1 referrer

When misconduct arises and it is determined that disciplinary measures are necessary, these are meant to be corrective in nature rather than punitive. Disciplinary measures are intended to motivate employees to adopt appropriate behaviour and encourage them to adhere to the high standards of conduct that the Agency has identified as necessary to deliver on its mandate. In certain cases, however, transgressions warrant termination.

The following chart provides statistics on the disciplinary measures that were taken for the entire Agency.

Non-disciplinary measures and disciplinary measures

Year	Non-disciplinary measures	Oral reprimand	Written reprimand	Suspension 5 days and less	Suspension More than 5 days	Termination/ Demotion
2023	81	30	73	58	11	10
2022	62	27	57	36	14	10
2021	45	26	55	31	19	7
2020	N/A	27	52	63	19	9
2019	N/A	18	83	62	28	6
2018	N/A	22	59	51	28	4
2017	N/A	29	104	86	29	3
2016	N/A	32	99	94	35	7
2015	N/A	22	109	122	33	2
2014	N/A	21	55	77	25	12

About the numbers

1. Not all cases involving disciplinary measures are the result of a management-led or professional standards investigation.
2. Investigations statistics are entered after a case has concluded. Instances where an investigation spans two calendar years will be counted in the year that a decision is rendered.
3. In keeping with the Privacy Act, information on individual cases will not be released.
4. While one incident of misconduct is one incident too many, these numbers need to be understood in the context of a population of over 14,000 employees.
5. Non-disciplinary measures include an employee meeting with their manager for one-on one training or to receive counselling on expected behaviour; a letter sent to the employee to outline appropriate behaviours; or sending the employee for the applicable/related training.