A Conservative MP is sounding the alarm over Ottawa’s push toward biometric airport screening, warning Canadians could soon face a future with “no privacy at all.”
Conservative MP Dean Allison’s reaction comes after Blacklock’s Reporter reported that the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority plans to deploy biometric technology for pre-board passenger screening between 2026 and 2031.
“I said it during the pandemic and I’ll say it again now,” Allison wrote on X. “The goal is to barcode people like livestock.”
“Soon, there will be no privacy at all,” he added. “And the ‘soon’ isn’t years away — it’s months away.”
According to Blacklock’s, CATSA says the biometric deployments are intended to improve screening efficiency.
However, whether passengers would ultimately be required to submit to biometric scans would be a government decision.
“CATSA will not be the authority to determine whether biometrics should be mandatory,” CATSA spokesperson Anna Maddison told Blacklock’s. “Any decisions related to use of biometric technology are matters of government policy and would be made by Transport Canada.”
The plan reportedly does not specify whether passengers who decline biometric screening would be prevented from boarding.
CATSA’s modernization plans include AI, advanced analytics and biometrics, while its restricted-area ID system already uses iris and fingerprint scans for authorized non-passengers.
The broader expansion of biometric and digital identification technology has drawn opposition from Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis, who sponsored petition E-6961 against a national digital ID system over privacy, surveillance and government-overreach concerns.
The Carney government maintains Canadians will not be forced to use a national digital ID system, saying it is “not developing a mandatory national digital identification system or a centralized database of Canadians’ personal or biometric information.”
At the same time, Ottawa is expanding voluntary digital credential infrastructure.
The Canadian Digital Service is developing GC Issue and Verify, GC Wallet and GC Verify, while pilots have included digital licences for aviation professionals and digital temporary-resident visas for Moroccan visitors.
The government maintains those initiatives are distinct from a national digital ID program and will remain optional.
Federal research has also identified public unease over personal data collection. A 2022 Canada Border Services Agency survey found 32 per cent of respondents were uncomfortable with providing more personal information to facilitate smoother border crossings, rising to 36 per cent in Quebec and 34 per cent in British Columbia.
Researchers did not ask Canadians whether they would support biometric screening for domestic flights.
Concerns predate the current projects. In 2003, a Commons committee examining a national identity card raised concerns about its multi-billion-dollar cost and the implications for when Canadians could be required to identify themselves to police.
A 2023 Privy Council study later warned digital ID could make daily life “far more restricted,” citing surveillance and privacy concerns.
The airport biometrics proposal remains under development. CATSA says it is exploring the technology with Transport Canada and other partners, while any decision to make biometric screening mandatory would rest with the federal government.
For Allison, the direction itself is cause for alarm.
“The goal is to barcode people like livestock,” he said. “Soon, there will be no privacy at all.”