Beyond the border crossing: Professor Paul Lutz prepares students for a dynamic field 

When Paul Lutz applied for a job with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), he imagined his day-to-day would involve inspecting vehicles and finding contraband. It didn’t take long for him to realize there was much more to the profession. 

“I quickly realized border services was broader and more dynamic than I expected,” Paul says. “Yes, you can be involved in inspecting vehicles at the border, but my career at the CBSA also took me through commercial trade, immigration, rail, marine and NEXUS.” 

Over the next decade, Paul experienced firsthand the variety of work that happens at and beyond Canada’s borders. Of all the areas he worked in, immigration left the biggest impression. “There were so many different stories you’d hear and different backgrounds and cultures you’d learn about,” he says. “Those were the cases where you learned the most.” 

The experience shaped Paul’s understanding of what it takes to succeed in border services. Knowledge of procedures matters, but so does the ability to listen, communicate, ask the right questions and make sound decisions. “At the end of the day, it’s a people business,” he says. 

Today, that perspective shapes the way Paul prepares students in Loyalist College’s Border Security and Investigations program. 

Learning to think like a border services professional 

For Paul, understanding the rules is only the beginning. Students also need opportunities to put their knowledge to work, particularly in situations that require them to think on their feet. At Loyalist, students build their skills progressively, beginning with theory before testing their knowledge through virtual and in-person simulations. 

One of those experiences involves interviewing travellers through a conversational AI simulation. From inside a virtual customs booth, students practise asking questions, responding to different scenarios and making decisions based on the information they’re given. They can work through situations, recognize where they went wrong and try different approaches before encountering similar challenges in person. From there, the experience becomes increasingly realistic. 

A former CBSA primary inspection booth, donated from the Thousand Islands border crossing, allows students to conduct simulated border crossings using real vehicles and people. Other activities introduce students to commercial vehicle inspections, where they learn to examine trucks and trailers and pay attention to details that could be important during an inspection. Later in the program, students take their learning into a professional setting through field placement. 

For Paul, the value of these experiences is seeing students move beyond memorizing procedures to understanding when and how to use them. “We get out and do the real thing,” he says. 

Seeing the bigger picture 

The same experiences also help students understand how varied the profession can be. A border crossing may be the most familiar part of the CBSA’s work, but Paul’s career exposed him to responsibilities involving international trade, immigration and different modes of transportation. 

It’s a broader picture he wants students to recognize as they consider their futures. “I find a lot of students think they’re kind of pigeonholing themselves into that one opportunity only,” he says. While many students enter the Border Security and Investigations program hoping to become CBSA officers, the skills they develop can also be relevant to careers in customs brokerage, trade compliance, logistics, immigration services and other areas of public safety. 

Even within the CBSA, the range of responsibilities extends well beyond inspecting travellers at a primary inspection booth. Paul encourages students to explore those possibilities rather than assuming there’s only one destination for someone interested in border services. It’s a perspective informed by a career that took him in directions he hadn’t anticipated when he first applied to the agency. 

Seeing it all come together 

As much as Paul enjoys sharing stories from his own career, some of his favourite moments as a professor happen when students begin connecting what they’ve learned in the classroom to the practical situations they’re working through. “I love those little ‘aha’ moments,” he says. “We’ve sat in class, put the theory together, and then you see them participating in an activity and actually doing the job we’re working towards.” 

For students, those moments can bring a new understanding of the responsibilities involved in border services, the skills they’re developing and the opportunities that may be available to them. 

Paul knows the value of that discovery. He entered the CBSA expecting one kind of career and found something much broader. Now, he gets to help students discover what the work really looks like — and where it might take them. 

Explore Border Security and Investigations at Loyalist College

Interested in a career in border security, customs or international trade? Discover how Loyalist’s program combines hands-on simulations, industry knowledge and field placements to prepare students for opportunities with the CBSA and beyond.

Explore the Border Security and Investigations program