The Border



A Canadian drama produced by the CBC, The Border premiered in January 2008 and aired for three seasons before being cancelled in the winter of 2010. So far as of 2011, there's no word on whether the third season will have a proper conclusion.

The Border follows a fictional group of agents who comprise the Immigration and Customs Security (ICS) agency. The ICS was ostensibly created by the Canadian government to handle trans-border matters concerning national security, including terrorism and smuggling after the events of September 11, 2001. ICS is under the portfolio of Public Safety Canada.

According to Peter Raymont, one of the producers of the Border, the show had been conceptualized back in 2001 prior to 9/11 before and after they pitched work for the CBC a three hour documentary mini series, commissioned by TVOntario and other broadcasters entitled "The Undefended Border".

The Border had been nominated for five awards at the 2009 Monte Carlo Television Festival after it had a previous nomination for Best TV Drama at the 2008 Monte Carlo Television Festival. In addition, it had 9 Gemini Awards and 1 Young Artist Award.

The show's broadcasting rights had been sold to several countries, including the United States on ION Television. In Quebec, the show had been shown in French via Séries+.


 * A Day in the Limelight: To the other ICS agents in both the TV and DVD extras (The Psych tests) aside from Mike.
 * Action Duo: Gray and Layla, later with Liz and sometimes with Darnell. Al and Darnell. Mike and Maggie and sometimes with Bianca.
 * Action Girlfriend: Liz Carver (played by Grace Park) is this to Gray Jackson.
 * Big Brother Is Watching: An episode deals with a
 * Biker Babe: Khalida Massi, introduced in the third season, is one to some extent. This gets Slade's attention.
 * Bolivian Army Cliffhanger: Somewhat literally, in that
 * Canada, Eh?: And how! Set rather blatantly in Toronto; most of the cast are Canadians as well.
 * Career Killers: A few episodes have this as the plot. Daisy, aside from being a M16 agent deployed to Toronto,
 * Cowboy Cop: Gray Jackson, at least temporarily.
 * The Cutie: Zoe Kessler, daughter of ICS chief Mike Kessler.
 * Did Not Do the Research: Mannering mentions the Official Secrets Act as a basis to Fact of the matter is the OSA was replaced by the Security of Information Act in 2001 after 9/11.
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: Kessler commanding ICS with the rank of Major. Shouldn't it be all familiar?
 * Embarrassing First Name: Heironymous Slade.
 * Fictional Counterpart: The CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) as Canada Customs and the Sûreté du Québec as the Department Du Police du Quebec (Quebec Police Department). According to Denis McGrath, this was done due to legal concerns to get clearance in using the names of the real agencies before the production team was forced to use fictional names instead.
 * Friend on the Force: Al with the Toronto Police Service as he's a liaison officer with ICS.
 * Handsome Lech: Mike Kessler; lampshaded by his daughter Zoe in conversation with his ex-wife.
 * Heroic BSOD / What the Hell, Hero?: Occurs to Gray in spades after
 * He Who Fights Monsters: Mike near the end of the 1st season after he
 * Iron Lady: ICS second-in-command Maggie Norton.
 * Killed Off for Real / Anyone Can Die:
 * Obstructive Bureaucrat: Many of Kessler's superiors in the Canadian government are portrayed as this.
 * Playful Hacker: Slade, ICS' designated computer expert.
 * Private Military Contractors: The domain of ICS nemesis Andrew Mannering's company, Trucott Solutions Inc., by the 2nd/3rd seasons.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Mike Kessler.
 * Real Life Writes the Plot: The fictional ICS headquarters (and real-life production facility) were set in a building formerly belonging to the Rochester fast ferry. It was considered ideal thanks to the full-featured customs facilities left over from its original purpose.
 * Retired Badass: ICS chief Mike Kessler, formerly a Major in Canada's Joint Task Force 2.
 * Shout-Out: Resident computer-hacking expert Slade is fond of these, Khalida to a lesser extent.
 * The Aloner: See He Who Fights Monsters.
 * The Conscience: The point of the entire show. The creators said in an interview that they wanted the show to be compared like 24 "with a human conscience."
 * The War on Terror: Some of the episodes either have this or a mix of this with other subplots. One of the episodes is set in Afghanistan.
 * Token Minority: There are in ICS, given that Canada is a multinational country. You got Layla (South Asian), Darnell (African) and Khalida (Algerian). In DHS, you got Bianca (Cuban-American from Florida) and Liz (Asian-American from Idaho).
 * Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: Portrayed in some episodes concerning Afghanistan and Iraq.