Border Services at Canada’s Airports
The provision of border services is an important issue for Canada’s airports. Access to adequate border services is of paramount importance to the ability of airports and the communities they serve to take advantage of the international opportunities available to them for trade and tourism growth.
Border services at Canada’s airports are provided by the Canada Border Services Agency, a federal agency that reports to the Minister of Public Safety. Unfortunately, resources available today for the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to fulfill its vital role are inadequate.
CBSA has a very important influence on a Canadian airport’s ability to grow through the addition of international and transborder services. Canadian communities are working hard to promote themselves as international destinations for tourism and trade, but the current inadequacies in the provision of border services at many airports are inhibiting communities from realizing their full potential. In fact, airlines have had to cancel planned new service due to a lack of border services available on the Canadian side of the route.
Furthermore, CBSA sees its services as benefiting airports, and accordingly seeks to recover the costs. This approach fails to take into account the total economic benefit of tourism and trade to Canadian communities that result from international service. The additional tax revenue that comes from an increase in tourism and trade that comes from new international air service far exceeds the cost of providing border services.
Use of new technology is of primary interest for airports to ensure a more efficient processing of passengers through the border process. For this reason, the CAC has been a major proponent of the joint Canada-U.S. NEXUS program, which speeds U.S.-Canada border crossings for NEXUS member participants.
For the future, the Canada-U.S. Perimeter Clearance initiative promises to significantly improve trade and tourism with the U.S. and other nations. It is essential that Canada remain actively engaged with the U.S. to make Perimeter Clearance a priority.
Background
While not brick and mortar in nature, CBSA services are an essential element of Canada’s infrastructure for international travel and trade. Canada’s airports and the communities they serve need border services to be provided in such a way that these services keep up with demand.
Canadian communities are being penalized by CBSA policy for airport border services since service levels are not adjusted to reflect current demand. This is an incredibly important limitation on many of Canada’s airports’ growth, stifling trade and tourism potential for the communities our airports serve. For example, many of Canada’s airports need greatly expanded services if they are to take advantage of U.S. trans-border opportunities that already are available to them.
CBSA’s cost-recovery approach also serves as a yoke on a community’s ability to take advantage of new international service. Where airports are forced to contract with CBSA for additional service, airports either lose a large portion of the net revenue from the incremental transborder and international traffic, or must increase aeronautical fees to recover the costs. Carriers and passengers both lose in this situation as the costs are invariably passed on to users and the ability to attract new service for the community suffers.
Looking to the future, the Canada-U.S. Perimeter Clearance initiative promises to significantly improve bilateral trade and tourism with the U.S. – Canada’s biggest and most important trading partner. It also promises to increase Canada’s trade with other nations by making Canada a more attractive gateway for cargo throughout North America. But progress on Perimeter Clearance will only be made if it is a federal priority.
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