Many people have busied themselves during the global pandemic, remodeling their homes, finishing laborious tasks, and generally just utilizing the time to check off items that had been building up on the to-do list.  

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) seems to have had a head start with crossing things off their list though, as they have now finished part of a large expansion project that had originally started in 2018.  

The North Portal border crossing, which is the busiest port of entry from the U.S. into Saskatchewan, have added three new bi-level primary inspection lanes to their facility. Being built on the highway, they will better streamline traffic flow coming into the country. Previously, only two lanes were operational for commercial traffic, and one for small vehicle traffic. 

“With these lanes, we're able to process both small and large vehicle traffic at each booth. A large canopy has been put in place a for them to flow under. It's a notable difference than what we previously had, and this is all new construction. Everything's been reworked here,” said Scott Kienlen, who is CBSA Corporate Chief for the Southern Alberta and Southern Saskatchewan district region.  

The last time the facility had been updated was some time in the mid 1980’s, meaning it was due time for an upgrade. As traffic patterns have since changed throughout the years, it was necessary to have the ability to process traffic more efficiently by adding the bi-level lanes. 

The new booths will allow Canada Boarder Service agents to process both small and large vehicles, such as commercial trucks, at any lane, at any given time.  

“The main ground breaking actually happened in May of 2018. There was some initial work of pre-construction, work design and so on. At the moment, we're looking to have things wrapped up by the end of the construction season in 2021, as long as the weather can cooperate with us.” 

Kienlen adds that they have been relatively on schedule the past year. Although there was a little bit of delay with weather complications, factors such as COVID-19 have not played any role in delaying the project. 

At this point, Kienlen believes that about $25,000,000 have been put towards the upgrading of the facility. 

“We're really happy with how things are turning out here. We do have another construction season ahead of us, so we ask travelers to be patient with us. There's been little delays with the progress, but we're keeping the port open and fully operational during this time.” 

The CBSA would like to thank everyone for their cooperation, especially the village of North Portal for being so understanding during these modifications.