and
Canada Border Services Agency work together for border crossing efficiency in Vancouver
History The precursor of U.S. preclearance operation began in 1894, when the U.S. government entered into agreements with Canadian steamship and railroad operators to place U.S. immigration inspectors at four largest Canadian seaports of
Montreal,
Quebec City,
Halifax, Nova Scotia and
Saint John, New Brunswick, to inspect prospective immigrants seeking to enter the U.S. via the
northern land border. Prior to this arrangement, immigrants entering via the northern border were usually uninspected and their arrivals were not recorded, as the United States did not have immigration inspection stations on its northern border at the time. In 1903, the arrangement, now formally named "pre-inspection" by the U.S. Bureau of Immigration, was extended to
Victoria, British Columbia for U.S.-bound travelers before boarding their ship to destinations in
Washington state. and with the 2001 Canada–U.S. Agreement on Air Transport Preclearance. In 2019, previous agreements and legislations were replaced by the
Agreement on Land, Rail, Marine, and Air Transport Preclearance Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Canada (LRMA), which allows for significant expansion of the scope of preclearance facilities. For instance, under the LRMA, CBP officers working at preclearance facilities in Canada will be able to carry firearms and detain travelers who try to voluntarily withdraw their outbound travel or willingly leave the preclearance area. Although CBP does not have arrest powers in Canada, the bill also includes increased cooperation with the CBSA to arrest travelers found to be breaking the law. On December 8, 2016, U.S. President
Barack Obama signed the bipartisan
Promoting Travel, Commerce and National Security Act of 2016 (H.R. 6431) into law, completing the U.S. legislative prerequisites for the signing of executive agreements such as the LRMA. On December 12, 2017, Canadian Governor General
Julie Payette gave royal assent to the Canadian
Preclearance Act. The LRMA was signed by representatives of both countries on August 15, 2019 and replaced previous Canadian legislation. The aging Canadian border station 200 meters north of the border will be temporarily closed, while its CBSA personnel will move into and share the newer CBP border station south of the border which was last rebuilt in 2012.
Air The following Canadian airports operate U.S. preclearance facilities: •
Calgary International Airport •
Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport •
Edmonton International Airport •
Halifax Stanfield International Airport •
Montréal–Trudeau International Airport •
Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport •
Toronto Pearson International Airport •
Vancouver International Airport •
Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport In airports with preclearance, passengers must first pass airport security inspection before they can proceed to the preclearance area. Security checks are conducted by
Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) in the standards of both CATSA and U.S.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) regulations. The "pre-inspection" procedures were enacted prior to the implementation of modern preclearance legislations, therefore only deal with immigration admissibility to the U.S., and the trains are still re-inspected by CBP for customs purposes at the border line in
Blaine, Washington despite not making any further stops within Canada. Amtrak suspended services on the route from March 2020 until September 2022, and no public timeline for implementation has been announced. This has become possible after the signing of the LRMA in 2019. Nevertheless, there remains no timeline for the establishment of such a facility, as train services only resumed in April 2023 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to passenger pre-inspection, the LRMA allows for U.S.-bound cargo to be precleared in Canada and vice versa. While there are no CBP cargo preclearance posts that operate in Canada , CBSA has been running a joint inspection project with CBP at Rouses Point, New York, for Canada-bound rail cargo since 2017. The project became permanent after the signing of the LRMA in 2019. Prior to the opening of the preclearance facilitates, "pre-inspection" facilities were available for users of the Ketchikan-Prince Rupert service until the route's suspension on October 1, 2019, after the state announced that it could not unilaterally cover the cost of security service provided by
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to unarmed CBP officers which has become mandatory under the LRMA. However, both Canadian and Alaskan governments announced in September 2021 that they would work to upgrade Prince Rupert's facility for the port to become the first seaport preclearance location by the time of the route's resumption in mid-2022, which would alleviate the need for RCMP presence as CBP officers would be able to legally carry firearms. Aside from the sole preclearance operation, CBP also operates "pre-inspection" at the port of
Victoria, British Columbia for the
Black Ball Line's
MV Coho car ferry service to
Port Angeles, Washington and the
Victoria Clipper passenger-only ferry to Seattle; the same program operated at the terminal in
Sidney, British Columbia for
Washington State Ferries'
Anacortes–San Juan Islands ferry service to
Anacortes, Washington, suspended since 2020. ==Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean==