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Helpful Places

Government of Canada – DTPR AI Register

AI Detection of Watercraft at Border Crossings

Ecology · Research & Development

What it collects

About a place
Anonymized data
  • Camera imagery captured at select international land border entry points into Canada. Images show vehicles and any attached trailers or watercraft on roads approaching border crossings.

GC AI Register — 2526-DFO-MPO-006

Run by
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)
Where
No fixed location
Kept
Not stated by the Helpful Places.
Shared with
Accountable organization

What it is for

EcologyResearch & Development

This pilot system uses cameras and machine learning at international land border crossings to automatically identify vehicles transporting watercraft entering Canada. Its purpose is to help Fisheries and Oceans Canada understand how aquatic invasive species may travel between water bodies via the so-called stowaway pathway. The system does not collect personal information. Primary users are Government of Canada employees managing the Aquatic Invasive Species Program.

What it collects and what happens to it

Data taken in

About a place
Anonymized data
  • Camera imagery captured at select international land border entry points into Canada. Images show vehicles and any attached trailers or watercraft on roads approaching border crossings.

GC AI Register — 2526-DFO-MPO-006

Processing

Computer Vision
  • Machine learning applied to camera images to automatically identify and flag images containing watercraft (boats, trailers, and related equipment) among the general flow of vehicles at border crossings.

GC AI Register — 2526-DFO-MPO-006

Classification & Prediction
  • Binary classification model that labels each image as containing watercraft or not, enabling automated filtering and flagging of relevant border-crossing events for downstream analysis by the AIS Program.

GC AI Register — 2526-DFO-MPO-006

What it does

Sensing (Perceptive AI)
Autonomous
  • The system uses machine learning to automatically analyze camera images of vehicles at border entry points, detecting and flagging images that contain watercraft without human review of each image.

GC AI Register — 2526-DFO-MPO-006

Deciding (Analytical AI)
Human decides
  • The machine learning model classifies each captured image as containing watercraft or not, producing flags that GC employees then use to analyze patterns of watercraft movement into Canada.

GC AI Register — 2526-DFO-MPO-006

Outputs

About a place
Anonymized data
  • Flagged images and aggregated counts of watercraft detected at specific border entry points, used to quantify the volume and pattern of watercraft movement into Canada across different crossing locations.

GC AI Register — 2526-DFO-MPO-006

Operational data
Anonymized data
  • Statistical summaries and trend data on watercraft movement volumes into Canada, intended to inform the Aquatic Invasive Species Program's understanding of the stowaway pathway and support evidence-based policy or inspection decisions.

GC AI Register — 2526-DFO-MPO-006

Run by

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)
  • Fisheries and Oceans Canada is the federal department deploying this pilot system through its Aquatic Invasive Species Program to monitor watercraft movement at land border crossings.

GC AI Register — 2526-DFO-MPO-006

Built by

Government of Canada
  • The system was developed internally by the Government of Canada, with no external vendor identified in the register entry.

GC AI Register — 2526-DFO-MPO-006

Kept for

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

Shared with

Available to the accountable organization
  • Output data (flagged images and aggregated watercraft counts) is available to Fisheries and Oceans Canada GC employees managing the Aquatic Invasive Species Program.

GC AI Register — 2526-DFO-MPO-006

Stored

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

How to read the colours

Can it identify you?

Anonymized data
Data about people with the link to who is broken. Stripped of identifiers, blurred, aggregated, or noised so this system can’t reasonably tie a record back to an individual.
Pseudonymous data
Each person’s data is tied to a token (hash, ID, template) that lets this system recognise the same person across events, but the token itself doesn’t reveal a name. Reidentification is possible with extra information.
Identifiable data
The data either contains a direct identifier (name, address, account name, recognisable face or voice, plate number) or carries a token this system uses to look up legal identity during processing.

Who completes the loop?

Human decides
This mode suggests; a person decides what to do next. The AI is always advisory — a human is in the loop on every decision. Example: a triage tool ranks cases for a clinician who chooses which to see first.
Human executes
This mode decides; a person carries out the result. Example: an optimizer plans the day’s trash-collection routes, and drivers run them.
Autonomous
This mode decides and acts on its own. No person reviews each decision or carries out the resulting action.

Definitions from the DTPR standard. Amber is about your data, violet about who decides. The fuller the shape and the deeper the colour, the more identifying the data or the less a person is involved.

What you can do

Ask about this system

Questions go to the Helpful Places, not the vendor.

Your rights

  • Right to Be Informed of AI UseThe register confirms this system does not involve personal information. Members of the public passing through monitored border crossings are not individually identified. If you have questions about this pilot, contact Fisheries and Oceans Canada through the Government of Canada's official channels.
  • Right to Algorithmic TransparencyThis system is disclosed on the Government of Canada's public AI Register. It uses machine learning to classify images of vehicles at border crossings as containing watercraft or not, for the purpose of quantifying the aquatic invasive species stowaway pathway. No personal information is collected or used.

Risks and safeguards

  • Civil liberties harmCameras at border crossings could capture imagery of individuals in public spaces, raising surveillance concerns even when personal information is not the target. The register states no personal information is collected.Safeguard: the system is designed to detect objects (watercraft/trailers) rather than individuals; the register explicitly states 'Involves personal information: N.' The pilot scope is limited to select border entry points. Ongoing review by the Aquatic Invasive Species Program is implied by the pilot design.