Good afternoon. I'm Angus Watt. I'm the president and CEO of CATSA, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority. CATSA was established on April 1, 2002, and is an agent crown corporation fully funded by parliamentary appropriations and accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Transport.
Our mandate consists of four areas of aviation security: pre-board screening, which is the screening of passengers and their belongings prior to their entry into the secure area of an air terminal building; hold baggage screening, or HBS, which is the screening of all passenger checked or hold baggage to prevent the boarding of prohibited items; non-passenger screening, which is the random screening of non-passengers accessing restricted areas at the highest risk airports; and a restricted area identity card program, which uses iris and fingerprint biometric identifiers to allow non-passengers access to restricted areas of the airport.
Supported by its screening contractors and their screening officer workforce, CATSA is expected to screen 58 million passengers and their belongings this fiscal year, 2015-16. More pertinently to this committee's deliberations on the supplementary estimates, CATSA is currently undertaking the life-cycle management of its HBS, hold-baggage system, through the recapitalization of equipment at airports all across Canada.
This deployment of advanced technology will ensure that CATSA remains compatible with its international partners, and that it employs best industry practices and standards to deliver a secure experience for air travellers. The initiative also supports the Canada–U.S. declaration of beyond the border, as it will eliminate the need for the United States transportation security administration to rescreen connecting baggage originating from Canadian airports with U.S. pre-clearance facilities.
This multi-year initiative started in fiscal year 2011-12, and it involves 32 airports, with an overall capital envelope of $580 million. The HBS recapitalization initiative is highly dependent on airport collaboration and timelines associated with airport project plans.
Through the supplementary estimates (C), CATSA is seeking access to $6.5 million in capital funds associated with that HBS program. This funding will allow the organization to continue to deploy the upgraded HBS system as part of the life-cycle management program and in support of the beyond the border initiative.
Thank you and I'm subject to your questions.