I know a lot of people lately love jumping on the "I hate authority" bandwagon, but it sounds like they were completely in the right here. Of course, it's impossible without witnessing the interaction personally to know how it actually happened, but one clear thing people need to understand; it is a privilege to visit another country, not a right. The main issue Canada border services faces day to day is determining whether someone is coming to the country to work illegally. I know personally (from living in areas that employ this type of labour) that Dominican Republic is one of the main countries that these people come from. The reason they look on computers, phones, etc. is to verify if what you're saying is true. They might find emails with you and an employer discussing a job opportunity, or they may find emails of your friend planning your trip to Canada. They don't look only to hurt you, it can help your case as well. Another misleading point is that they don't specify about how being arrested by border services is different than being arrested by police. 'Arrested' for CBS usually means they have reason to believe you're acting suspiciously (mixed up stories, avoiding questions, being caught in a lie, reacting angrily, etc.) and they let you sit in a room until you calm down. Sometimes thats because they're waiting for you to pass the drugs you've swallowed, sometimes it's just because you're being an a-hole. But you don't get charged with anything unless they find proof of wrongdoing (at which point you're handed to the RCMP). If they find at the time that you're not doing anything illegal, they'll determine whether you're admissible to Canada. If you are, they most often hand you a citation that requires you to leave in the exact time you specified (usually as a precaution for acting suspicious), and if you're not (possibly because you have a criminal record) then they send you back to where you came from.