CBSA policy does state you are obligated to provide your password if they are conducting a lawful device examination, however they cannot do it arbitrarily, and they must have a legal basis for searching the device.
> CBSA policy states that examinations of personal devices should not be conducted as a matter of routine; such searches may be conducted only if there are grounds or indications that “evidence of contraventions may be found on the digital device or media.”
Furthermore, Canadian courts have not yet definitively ruled on whether compelling password disclosure is constitutionally permissible.
This is very different than the US, where CBP can conduct a basic search without any individualized suspicion.
So, Canada and the US are definitely not the same, which seems to be the implied meaning behind your comment, and your explicit statement that CBSA has legal authority to search your phone is, at best, misleading.
I’m not a lawyer or a legal expert so I could be wrong, so feel free to correct me if you have Canadian legal experience.
https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/airports-and-border...
As a Canadian. I won't be going there for a long time