Despite reports from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) that the significant IT system outage causing severe backlogs for entry into Canada has been resolved, the movement of international commerce and our nation’s truck drivers continue to sit paralyzed at the northern border, leaving some stranded for days with little information or hope that this issue will be fixed imminently.
“This is an ongoing crisis of investment neglect of our IT trade infrastructure,” said CTA President and CEO, Stephen Laskowski. “Our members across the country are outraged, their customers outraged, and their drivers are threatening to leave the industry. If you want an example why Canada is last in economic growth among the G7 countries, this would be one.”
Members across the country are reporting significant delays, including 4-5 hours delays at Emerson, MB, Pacific Highway, B.C., and much lengthier delays at other border crossings. These wait times are in addition to the border delays that have already been experienced when the outage first began.
The impacts of the backlog and delays at some ports of entry are so significant that some ports, such as the Queenston-Lewiston and Peace Bridge crossing in Ontario, have recommended avoiding the bridge for entry into Canada altogether this morning:
“The Niagara Falls Bridge Commission (NFBC) advises all Canada-bound commercial carriers to avoid the Lewiston-Queenston International Bridge crossing until further notice, due to ongoing processing delays related to a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) systems outage that occurred earlier this week. While CBSA has implemented a processing systems fix, the resulting delays continue, and all adjacent queuing areas within the Western New York region are at, or beyond, capacity.”
Carriers from across the country continue to express their frustration, including the significant loss of productivity, unnecessary added miles, customer frustration at delivery delays, the lack of information, clarity, and lack of accountability about the delays, amongst many other issues.
CTA is receiving reports of U.S. state police having to shut down access to some ports of entry into Canada due to highway backups and safety related concerns; and bridge authorities are having to feed truck drivers stranded at the border.
“The Government of Canada needs to make a commitment to resolve this issue on behalf of the CBSA and ensure what’s occurred this week and has continued to recur over the last several years, will not be repeated,” says CTA’s Director of Policy and Industry Awareness Programs, Lak Shoan.
