On December 19, 2013, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama announced the release of the second annual Beyond the Border Implementation Report.
The report outlines the progress made by the two countries to implement the Beyond the Border Action Plan, which Transport Canada played an important role in developing and implementing border infrastructure, technology and security initiatives.
The objective of the plan is to reduce, eliminate and prevent barriers to cross-border trade and travel and to install border wait time measurement technology at the top 20 land crossings.
Together with Canadian and U.S. partner agencies, Transport Canada released the first-ever Border Infrastructure Investment Plan (BIIP) in May 2013, covering seven key land border ports of entry.
Following this announcement, the Government of Canada followed through on its related commitment to upgrade key border facilities up to $127 million for major infrastructure improvements at Lacolle (Quebec), Lansdowne (Ontario), Emerson (Manitoba) and North Portal (Saskatchewan).
The BIIP aims to establish a mutual understanding of recent, ongoing and potential border infrastructure investments at major border crossings. It outlines the approach that Canada and the United States will take to coordinate plans for physical infrastructure upgrades at small and remote ports of entry. The plan will be updated annually; work on an expanded and updated edition is currently underway.
For additional information on this initiative, consult the Transport Canada website.
Background
On February 4, 2011, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama issued a joint declaration which focused on four areas of cooperation:
Ten months later, the Action Plan on Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness was released. It includes 32 binational initiatives designed to implement the Vision set out by the Leaders and make the Canada U.S. border more efficient, safe and secure.
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