The North Portal Port of Entry was designated as a priority border crossing in the Beyond the Border Action Plan initiative focused on border infrastructure. Under the Beyond the Border Action Plan, released by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama in December 2011, it was identified as a priority for investments by the Canadian Government.
Under the Beyond the Border Action Plan, Canada and the U.S. agreed to make significant infrastructure upgrades at key border crossings to facilitate trade and travel, thereby creating jobs and supporting growth and prosperity. The Government of Canada has allocated up to $10 million in new funding for the North Portal improvements in Budget 2012. Funding will flow through the Gateways and Border Crossings Fund. To date, the Government of Canada has dedicated over $2.1 billion under the Fund to ensure the efficient flow of goods and people between Canada and the rest of the world.
The Beyond the Border Action Plan focuses on four areas: addressing threats early; facilitating trade, economic growth and jobs; integrating cross border law enforcement; and strengthening critical infrastructure and cyber security.
This project involves the expansion and modernization of the Canada Border Services Agency commercial facility; expansion and re-alignment of the commercial staging area and commercial traffic lanes; and re-configuration and expansion of the border crossing roadways. The North Portal Port of Entry, located in Saskatchewan, is connected to Highway 39 on the Canadian side and Highway 52 on the United States side, and is the ninth busiest crossing in Canada.
The Government of Canada has already spent $12 million to rehabilitate and upgrade sections of Highway 39 leading to the North Portal border crossing in response to the increasing importance of this vital trade corridor in support of the development and growth in the natural resource sector of the economy based in Saskatchewan and eastern Alberta. Northbound traffic is growing exponentially due to expanding oil and gas industries in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Expansion of secondary inspection facilities and realignment of the commercial traffic lanes would alleviate the approach for the commercial vehicles reporting for inspection, for unloading trucks in the commercial vehicle secondary inspection area, addressing officer safety concerns in the secondary inspection process.
The planning phase of this project is scheduled to begin this year, with the construction phase expected to start in 2014 and to take approximately two years to complete.
Further details on the Beyond the Border Action Plan can be found at www.actionplan.gc.ca/border
