Transport committee  I'll pass that question to Helena, because CATSA actually has nothing to do with that fee.

Transport committee  We started off in 2013 spending approximately $15 million a year on non-passenger screening. We had a very minimal program at the time, which essentially consisted of a sampling of non-passengers accessing the sterile areas of airports. It was decided by the government at that ti

Transport committee  I'm not sure where you're getting those figures.

Transport committee  I'm not sure I understand. Did you say a delay?

Transport committee  In what...? Essentially, this is a ramp-up program. We started in 2013 and are in the third year of implementation of that ramp-up. This is the completion of that implementation phase.

Transport committee  Once this year is done, then we go into long-term sustainment, and the financial basis changes at that point. I'll pass it back to Helena, if she wishes to comment more.

Transport committee  I am Angus Watt, the president and CEO of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority.

Transport committee  Madam Chair, I'll start, with your permission. 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. CATSA's mandate consists of four areas of avia

Transport committee  For CATSA, for 2014-15, just to give some perspective, our overall budget that year was $620 million, and we lapsed $3.263 million.

Transport committee  Do you want to take that, Helena?

Transport committee  Beyond the border was an agreement concluded by Prime Minister Harper and President Obama several years ago. Essentially, it was done to remove barriers to the free flow of goods and trade and people across the border. One of the key elements with respect to airports was the fre

Transport committee  No, this is only for airports with U.S. pre-clearance. In other words, those are the big class 1 airports. The 32 airports encompass a wide variety of airports. We're replacing the X-ray machines in the hold baggage rooms of airports all across the country, not just in the big

Transport committee  I think I'll pass that to Helena. We are a fully regulated entity, unlike in the U.S. The transportation security agency there actually regulates itself. Transport Canada determines what we screen for. It's up to Transport Canada to decide.

Transport committee  That's a little outside the scope of this. In general we have 6,000 screening officers across the country. We screen 150,000 people every day. It's a very complex operation. In order to better prepare them for their duties each day, the Auditor General noted that perhaps we cou

Transport committee  We have a complex network of KPIs that we use in conjunction with our airport security screening agreement with the screening contractors. Those are measured on a daily basis through CATSA personnel called performance officers who watch the screening officers perform their duties