Border Choices: Balancing the Need for Security and Trade

With heightened concern about the effects of increased security on trade, three policy options emerge.

Document Highlights 

With over $1.3 billion of goods crossing the Canada–U.S. border every day—representing 87 per cent of Canada’s exports—the efficient flow of goods and people between Canada and the United States is vital to our economy.

There are three broad policy scenarios to lessen border delays while achieving an acceptable level of security for both countries.

1. The first scenario is to enhance border efficiency by exploiting more intelligent methods of processing border examinations.
2. The second scenario is to rethink the traditional border management. Canada and U.S. law enforcement agencies would work more closely together away from the Canada–U.S. border to mitigate the need for intensive inspections at the border itself.
3. The third scenario is for the two governments to closely co-ordinate or perhaps even harmonize, security and related policies and to potentially eliminate border inspections altogether.

The purpose of this paper is to add clarity to these unclear concepts while examining policy scenarios designed to achieve speedy border crossings and enhanced domestic security.