President Donald Trump has told Congress that clandestine fentanyl laboratories remain active in Canada and called on Ottawa to do more to dismantle drug-production networks and Chinese criminal groups operating near the U.S. northern border.

The allegations are contained in Trump’s annual determination on major drug-transit and illicit drug-producing countries, which was submitted to Congress on Sept. 15 and released by the State Department the following day. The presidential determination identifies 23 countries as major drug-transit or illicit drug-producing nations, including China, Mexico, Colombia, India and Venezuela. Canada is not on the list.

Trump calls for crackdown on Canadian drug labs

Despite leaving Canada off the formal list, Trump singled out both Canada and Mexico for additional criticism.

“Fentanyl continues to be illicitly produced in clandestine Canadian labs, and precursor chemicals and synthetic drugs continue to enter the United States through Canada,” Trump said in the determination.

The president then called on Ottawa to target the criminal organizations behind the trade.

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“Canada needs to take meaningful action to dismantle drug labs, strengthen supply chain security, and degrade criminal networks and Chinese gangs operating along our northern border,” Trump said.

The allegation concerning fentanyl laboratories is consistent with Canadian authorities’ acknowledgment that illegal synthetic-drug production occurs inside the country. Canadian Public Safety briefing material states that between 2018 and 2023, law enforcement dismantled 40 sites where evidence of illicit fentanyl production was found, with most believed capable of producing more than five kilograms of finished drugs during a production cycle.

One of the largest discoveries came in British Columbia in October 2024, when the RCMP dismantled what authorities described as Canada’s largest and most sophisticated drug “super lab.” Police seized about 54 kilograms of fentanyl, along with methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA, precursor chemicals, firearms and other equipment. Canadian officials estimated the fentanyl and precursors involved could have produced more than 95 million potentially lethal doses, according to Public Safety Canada

Canadian border officials have also acknowledged the role of China-sourced precursor chemicals. A Canada Border Services Agency briefing said the fentanyl threat involved “the smuggling of fentanyl precursor chemicals from China” and noted that domestic production of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs continued despite changing Chinese controls.

Ottawa disputes scale of fentanyl flow into US

Canadian officials, however, have strongly disputed suggestions that Canada is a significant source of the fentanyl entering the United States.

Canada’s fentanyl czar Kevin Brosseau said in a year-end assessment that U.S. statistics showed seizures attributed to the northern border accounted for approximately 0.1 percent of total U.S. fentanyl seizures involving border enforcement.

“Canada is not a source of fentanyl, be it for the U.S. or abroad,” Brosseau said, while acknowledging that Canada is confronting transnational organized crime organizations that exploit international supply chains and financial systems.

His office reiterated the northern-border statistic following Trump’s latest declaration. In a statement to The Bureau, Justin Bullen, communications advisor to fentanyl czar Kevin Brosseau, said, “Any fentanyl moving across the border is too much, and our goal remains to stop the flow of fentanyl entirely.”

Ottawa has nevertheless expanded enforcement efforts since the issue became a major source of tension with Washington. Canada appointed Brosseau as its first fentanyl czar in February 2025 and tasked him with coordinating law enforcement and intelligence efforts aimed at disrupting fentanyl production and trafficking.

The federal government has also committed C$1.3 billion to its border-security plan and expanded laboratory, precursor-chemical and enforcement capabilities.

China remains central to US fentanyl concerns

Trump’s determination separately identifies China as one of the 23 major drug-transit or illicit drug-producing countries.

The president said China remains “the world’s largest producer of many of the precursor chemicals” used to manufacture fentanyl, methamphetamine and other synthetic narcotics. He said Beijing had introduced new licensing requirements for designated precursor chemicals after discussions with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but maintained that traffickers were adapting by switching to chemicals that remained outside those controls.

Canadian authorities have described a similar pattern. Government briefing documents have warned that traffickers frequently change production methods when particular precursor chemicals are regulated, substituting uncontrolled chemicals to continue manufacturing synthetic drugs.

Trump’s determination makes clear that inclusion on the annual U.S. list does not necessarily mean a government is failing to cooperate with Washington. Countries are included because geographic, commercial or economic conditions allow significant drug or precursor production or transit.

Only Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma and Colombia were separately designated in the 2027 determination as having “failed demonstrably” during the previous 12 months to make substantial counternarcotics efforts required under U.S. law.

Original article