Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - August 2009
Businesses are calling out for the U.S. and Canadian Governments to improve border-crossing procedures to avoid massive backlogs once the economy picks up.
The U.S. and Canadian chambers of commerce have issued a report stating that less cross-border travel due to the economic recession is the reason that major complications have not yet arisen in light of the new passport requirements. They predict that within the next 18 months, as the recession wanes, the traffic at the border will rapidly increase, causing major line-ups.
“We have got some false sense of security here, where the problem does not seem as serious as it may in fact be,” said President of the Canadian Chamber Perrin Beatty with regards to the current dip in traffic. “When we see the economy starting to grow again, and when volume starts to increase, we’ll be seeing pressures at key border crossings growing as well.”
The report recommends several techniques to reduce this pressure, including more publicity and expansion for the Nexus cards, which allow for frequent business crossers to fast-track their way through. Currently the program has only approximately 300,000 out of a possible one million qualified users.
Another recommendation tabled by the report is to set up “off-site” inspection venues for commercial shippers that would separate them from general border traffic.
Source: The Vancouver Sun
