why are there usually big delays at border crossings to Canada?

Factual Questions
1

There is a bridge between Canada and the US at Buffalo/Ft. Erie called the Peace Bridge.
For years, going back around 15, there was a call to erect a new bridge, a ‘Signature’ bridge, one that would relieve the constant backup of, in particular, trucks going back and forth. Much of this problem, though, seems to have been addressed through improvements in systems and technology, pre-clearing many trucks so that they can more or less sail through customs when they reach it.

However, we saw, while visiting friends on both sides of the border last week, awful backups and delays of automobiles going both ways. People were delayed, in some cases, for two or more hours just to get to the inspector. In our case, we were cleared after a little over an hour.

For example, Friday night, going from the US to Canada, 10:30, a backup of at least two hundred cars, with 6 inspection stations open for cars. Each inspection took around two minutes, with some taking far more. (Our hotel person, the next morning, told us about a couple who called the hotel to try to keep their room available at 2 a.m., saying they had just reached the back of the line…and they arrived at the hotel over 2 hours later)

I do not think inspections should take less time, nor do I think inspectors are somehow responsible for the delays. The problem was, obviously, that too few inspectors were working that night.

Let us say that my time and yours is worth $20/hour, a rather conservative number, and that you are delayed for one hour and that your experience was typical of 200 other people. The cost of the delay is, then, $4000/hour. Even if another 6 inspectors were called in, at a cost of $30/hour, the cost to the public for those people would not exceed $200/hour.

May I presume the problem is that there isn’t enough money in the budget to have 6 more people available on a call-in basis to alleviate delays? Isn’t this a case of government unwillingness to fund essential services causing large costs for the public?

Yes, tollroads once were also a source of terrific costs to the public because of backups. Those problems have almost disappeared in many places by the use of prepaid electronic passes. I have “EZpass”, and on a recent trip from NC to Canada, I was not delayed at all at any toll booth, all 8 or 9 of them that I used. Unfortunately, border crossings are a lot more complex. More people are needed and short-sighted budgeting for those positions has to be corrected.

2

Is it true that these long delays are normal? A google search at 10am Thursday shows “no delay” in either direction. The website says average delays are around 10 minutes.

Maybe there was a particular reason, like heightened security, extra holiday traffic or staff problems.

If you think that was bad - this is what happens when the French get bloody minded at the start of school holidays:

3

You just have an unfortunate situation in Buffalo. You have an entire city’s worth of traffic across a border being channeled on to one bridge.

Go up to Niagara Falls and cross there instead.

4

I’ve done that, and, yes, on that occasion, the delay was minimal. Where I think I disagree with you, though, is that I don’t believe there needed to be a delay. Inspector’s work schedule could be organized so that less senior people would be called in as needed, perhaps with 2 hour notice, so that failure to anticipate manpower requirements would not result in a major problem.

I do appreciate that some places in the world experience problems that far exceed the one I spotlighted.

One might also think of this as a threat to national security. Why? Because the psychological effect on the inspector is to try to hurry through the process when he or she sees a backup. No, I didn’t perceive that anything like that was happening, but, you know, it only takes on inspector letting their guard down to flood the country with illegal Canadians! or vice versa

5

You think it’s bad now? Just wait until November 9!

6

The rough equivalent of EZ-Pass for the US-Canada border crossing is NEXUS, which allows one to use dedicated lanes in crossing the border (also at airports.)

7

Except sometimes the NEXUS lane is closed. I think that cost-cutting is the explanation. Generally, the times they need extra booths are on weekends, especially holiday weekends and extra people cost more money. This might not be the case at Buffalo, though.

8

Really, you’re asking why there’s a delay at one crossing, not Canada as a whole. If you’re crossing from North Dakota into Saskatchewan, there’s rarely any delay.

9

I crossed there years and years ago (pre-9/11).

On one of the family trips we crossed over with no problem. There were a couple of college kids in a VW bug behind us. Either they had something, were smart-asses or what, and the border guards were not happy. The guards ordered them stripped right there at the border, in the middle of the road for all the world to see.

We had a great laugh watching these two guys standing there in the middle of the road, pants pulled down to their ankles and shirts removed. Looking across the border back into the USA the US Customs folks were laughing as much as we were. Other than the guards (both sides), us and these two guys, the place was deserted.

10

I-5 going to Vancouver can be a freaking nightmare. Usually a longer wait to get into the US than the other way around. My family did the NEXUS interview last week.

“Why do you want to come to Canada?”

“Lunch in Chinatown” got translated into “tourism” :wink:

11

I don’t think it is. I’ve crossed that bridge a few dozen times and never waited for hours. I’ve seen it backed up a few times, but it kept moving and there were a lot of lanes open. I have heard a few nightmare stories, though, and they all involved crossing late at night.

12

I don’t think the OPs time is worth $20/hour while driving. Mine isn’t. I’m not sure if professional OTR truck drivers make much more than that if at all.

13

I’ve crossed the US/Canada border at Niagara Falls and Alexandria Bay/Thousand Islands dozens of times and don’t remember ever seeing more than 1-2 cars using NEXUS. Does that mean it’s not working, or that people don’t think it’s worth paying the $50 fee?

14

NEXUS users have their own separate bridge at Niagara Falls, and I doubt there’s much demand at the Thousand Islands Bridge since it’s fairly far from any major population centers.

15

At Niagara Falls/Lewiston I’m pretty sure that the NEXUS lane shares the bridge and then is parallel to the regular lanes for a while–that’s the one I’m thinking of when I say that I rarely see cars in it.

16

My family has long lived near the US/Canada border, both in Michigan and in New York. While there have always been the occasional delay these past 40 years it became more of a problem post-9/11 with the new requirements and regulations. It’s not the whole of the problem but it does add to it.

17

AS for Nov 9th traffic, do you really think all those Trump supporters would be happier in Canada?

Glad to hear that the Peace Bridge delay is now only occasional, not normal at all. Yes, my delayed crossings were late evening, with worst I heard about, 2 hours, happening at 2 a.m.

I suspect that this is about all anyone has to say about the subject.

18

There are three bridges in the Niagara area; in addition to Peace, you can also use the bridges at Niagara Falls and Lewiston-Queenston. A good tip is that if you have a passenger in the car they can find the bridge wait times as you drive and you can change your mind if need be; failing that, both sides have an AM radio station with automated reports as to wait times.

Certainly in my experience the Peace Bridge usually isn’t that bad, but it depends on time of day, luck, and whether the guards have been alerted to something they need to look for. If it’s inexplicably bad, they have someone or something they’ve been tipped off to.

As long as we’re talking theory, too, frankly the two countries should be working together to create a Schengen Zone type deal where there aren’t any border guards at all.

19

Going from the United States to Canada, yes. When going the other direction, it seems the American border guards are sufficiently bored to manufacture their own delays. At North Portal I’ve been held up for hours and repeatedly strip-searched and interrogated more times than I’d care to count (even pre-9/11). Never happens at any other crossing, where I’m waved through with only a cursory glance at my passport.

20

We used to have something like that, but after 9/11 the security theatrics put an end to it.