Info-sharing on entry-exit tracking between Canada and the US (implemented?)

[Gymmy]

Hi,

When an officer asks how long a Canadian PR has been outside of Canada at the land crossing, do they already have this info coming from the US side (US entry info) and just want to double-check? Or, would they need to request this from US side and, if yes, how long does it take for them to get the info? When you answer how long you have been outside of Canada, and, let's say, you don't name the exact date you left (cause you forgot and there's no stamp in your passport), do they record this info - at least in some cases?
There has been a long-standing discussion on entry-exit tracking b/w the two countries, but has it really been implemented?
The question is: If there are no stamps in the passport, is it possible to track when a person left Canada for the US and when this person returned?

Thank you

 

[john5655]

an interesting development and I can understand why this info is needed to prevent abuse of the residency rules in Canada (and the US I guess)

however, I doubt if the authorities are going to make the mechanism public

 

[Gymmy]

I do not think there is an option not to make the mechanism public - it is against human rights provisions actively promoted by the UN, right to information in the first place.
The US put the plan to put tighter control exits by land on hold as of 2007 on their side, due to high costs. There's no indication of any efforts of this nature on the Canadian side. I was wondering if there were any developments since then. Both sides have an option to use each others' entry records as exit tracking for the other side. I'm, however, not certain that Canada even has a system for record of entry by land from the US for its own use. To my understanding, all they can use a PR card for is to check if it's valid, but swiping it does not create a database of each person's entries into Canada, does it? Why, in that case, they refuse to put stamps in national passports of permanent residents into Canada by land is beyond understanding.

 

[links18]

US CBP keeps record of all entries up to 15 years, even entries of US citizens. What type of records they keep exactly is not a matter of public record. There was a minor controversy about that in the US papers last year.