They're stationed abroad to enforce and assist in the administration of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The writ of the IRPA doesn't run in foreign countries, so it doesn't automatically give them any authorization. They rely upon cooperation with the foreign governments and developing contacts. They rely on MOUs and what we call SMUs--statements of mutual understanding--with foreign countries on the subjects on which we exchange information with them and for what purpose.
We are of, course, closer overseas to our key partners, who tend to be the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand. The exact cooperation mechanisms differ from country to country. I always like to say that every MIO does a different job. It depends entirely on local conditions and what's going on in the region.
We share information with our allies, and to a certain extent with the host country governments. In areas such as trend analysis we help one another understand what's going on locally--if some groups are more likely to seek migration in the near future than others, and for what reasons. We share information on changes to visa and passport requirements in the local country. That's the level of intelligence we collect and share overseas.
With our closer partners we also share such things as rules and algorithms for measuring risk, based on data collected on travellers abroad. Wherever there's an MIO abroad there are likely to be equivalent officers. The U.K., for example, calls them airline liaison officers. There are likely to be equivalent officers from the U.S., the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany, and Australia. So they are an automatic network. As soon as you are an MIO posted abroad, you're part of this network. They help one another logistically. If one of them can't get to the airport one night, another one might, and vice-versa.
I could also speak about the role MIOs play in removals to foreign countries. Whenever an individual is detained in Canada under a warrant and needs to be removed to a foreign country, someone has to make sure the travel document is issued that will enable him to travel back to the country he came from and that arrangements are in order with the local authorities for him to be received appropriately.