Last summer, at the World Customs Organization (WCO) meeting, a Canadian Customs representative heard Dr. Marjorie Budd, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Training and Development (OTD), brief the assembly regarding our programs. The Canadian representative was excited by the CBP's training approach and immediately arranged for OTD representatives to visit the Director General of the Training and Learning Directorate (TLD) in Ottawa, Canada. At this initial meeting, the two parties agreed to collaborate on opportunities for sharing learning expertise, best practices, and services aimed at ensuring that employees of each Customs organization have the competencies required to fulfill organizational mandates.

OTD representatives were most impressed with the work of the TLD. The Director General and his staff are firm believers in and executors of the CCRA learning philosophy: "Learning all the time... everywhere!" OTD representatives were equally impressed with the many learning initiatives that TLD manages, including a National Learning Plan, a multitude of world-class e-learning programs, competency-based Inspector basic training, overall investment in employee training, leadership programs, training evaluation, and a commitment to building a learning organization. The TLD is dedicated to linking learning priorities to corporate objectives, and learning account managers work very closely with their customers to achieve this goal.

In return for this outstanding benchmarking experience, OTD invited CCRA representatives to visit the CBP Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and the academy in Glynco, Ga. Information was shared regarding our core basic and advanced academy training, distance learning, leadership, instructor certification, training standards, and evaluation programs. During this visit, CCRA representatives also shared their lessons learned from experiencing an organizational merger, which was insightful in light of our recent move into the Department of Homeland Security. CBP and CCRA plan to hold further discussions regarding how best to prepare for organizational changes.

In between these visits, the two parties have shared multiple basic and advanced course materials that have helped both glean best practices and gain ideas for new initiatives. In addition, OTD worked with the officer in charge at Ottawa International Airport to allow CCRA personnel to attend the Customs inspection anti-terrorism training. The program has been well received in Canada, and the CCRA Customs organization developed its own anti-terrorism program using our package as the model for the learning design. Other projects underway for joint development include a CD-ROM entitled "Detecting Terrorist Weapons" and monthly modules. Together, our training offices plan to live up to another CCRA pledge:

More Ways to Serve You!

Pour vous servir encore mieux!