I dont know if you caught it this time around but I managed to. Im not sure but it almost looked like a series like the show about airport security that is on.
Anyway, the first guy they had detained was an American with a criminal record who wanted to visit. His record included some violent offenses but had all be dealt with by US courts. But, they didnt want to let him in so they shackled him up and took him off to detention for 48 hours then put him before an immigration judge who deported him and banned him from Canada for life. So apparently they are kinda taking a harder stance nowadays. They talked about increased training to spot fake ID and suspicious behavior.
They didnt get much into things that could answer your question, although, they did say that they are tighter and taking their jobs more seriously than ever .
Nothing about the frequency or thoroughness of ID checks/ background checks.
One thing that did shock me though was that there were some ppl who were comming to Canada via US who were from overseas ( so they claimed) and wanted refugee status.
They had fake passports and no other ID . When they admitted their ID was fake they were given a standard interview and fingerprints and sent on their way ( into Canada) with a hearing date and a promise to appear. Most times these ppl never show up for their hearings and our government doesnt persue them. We have thousands of people who are deported officially but whereabouts unknown. Its too easy.
Tell your friend I said 'welcome to Canada eh!'

( and tell him to be carefull our beer has this substance in it called alcohol) lol