[lawnchair_larry]

I saw this on their border security reality TV show, but neither I, nor anyone I know, has ever had their phone searched visiting Canada. I've been curious how often they do it. What were your circumstances?

If that show is to be believed, they aren't looking for hate speech. They are looking for the person who says they are just visiting, and then has all kinds of text messages about when they start their new job, or how they are looking forward to moving there.

[aero142]

This was driving across the border for an extended vacation. I'm not going to post every detail, but I had a vague itinerary and I completely understand why we got extra questions. However, I hadn't done anything suspicious at all. It is a question of rights, and as a non Canadian citizen, you have no rights other than to decide not to go to Canada anymore. They were looking for evidence of drug smuggling, proof that I could financially afford to take care of myself if something went wrong, and "hate speech". That is what the officer said. You may find this reasonable, but how thoroughly they search your phone is entirely up to the officer at the border, and they have every ability to just image your phone.