Ottawa wants to launch a pilot project aimed at allowing land travelers heading to Canada from the United States to pass through customs on American territory.
An impact study of the project was published last month in the Canada Gazette, along with a call for public comments.
This pilot project would establish a preclearance zone inside a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility in Cannon Corners, New York, south of Montreal.
The federal notice indicates that the small remote port of entry at Covey Hill, in Montérégie, “which is in a state of disrepair”, would thus be moved to the American side of the border, in the “established facility” of Cannon Corners .
As part of this pilot project, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) would process travelers on American soil shortly before their entry into Canada. The Canadian port of entry at Covey Hill would be closed for the duration of the pilot project.
The notice states that the CBSA hopes to launch the project this year, although discussions on the timeline are still ongoing. The pilot project will cost $7.4 million, an envelope that has already been allocated in the 2021 federal budget.
The two-year pilot project aims to determine whether similar facilities could replace small, aging ports of entry on the Canadian side of the border.
Like Americans at airports
Since 1952, American agents have already carried out preclearance in Canada of air travelers going to the United States. But Canada currently does not carry out any such preclearance anywhere in the world.
“Establishing Canadian preclearance operations in the United States would support government and industry objectives to facilitate the movement of legitimate travelers and goods across the border,” states the federal notice.
This measure would also aim to “increase the safety and security of Canadians and the Canadian economy by pushing back the border to prevent inadmissible people and inadmissible goods from entering Canada.”
The CBSA currently operates 80 “small, remote ports of entry” along the Canada-U.S. land border, “many of which are in various states of disrepair,” notes the federal government.
Indeed, larger and busier ports of entry, such as the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, or the “Peace Arch” in Surrey, British Columbia, have priority when This involves renovations and upgrades.