Changes are coming to the hours of operation for several border crossings in Saskatchewan. In press releases issued earlier this week by both Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, it was announced on the Canadian side there would be 35 land ports of entry that have the hours change on January 6th, while the American side will have the hours adjusted at 38 ports.
These changes will allow the ports to operate at the same hours, no matter which direction a person is crossing.
“These adjustments are formalizing current operating hours that have been in effect for more than four years across many northern border remote port locations,” explained Chris Misson. He is the Area Port Director for CBP, based in Pembina, North Dakota. “It’s just taken some time to have, importantly, that these adjustments have been made in close coordination with CBSA.”
The CBSA declined an interview for this story but did forward their initial press release in response to questions about the reasons behind the change. The release stated the changes will enhance overall security for both nations and allow the CBSA to use its resources more efficiently by allowing the deployment of officers at busier ports of entry.
This rationale was echoed by Misson.
“For several years, CBP has documented a reduction in privately owned vehicles and pedestrian traffic at some of our ports of entry across the northern border,” the Area Port Director said. “We’re continuously evaluating our workload, staffing, operating costs, and traffic volumes at all of the POEs to align operating hours to reflect traffic patterns, and place employees where they can be most useful.”
The Canadian ports of entry in Saskatchewan that will be affected are Carievale, Estevan Highway, Monchy, Northgate, Oungre, and West Poplar River. For Monchy and West Poplar River, the hours of operation for travellers will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week from the second Sunday of March to the first Saturday of November.
The hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the rest of the year. For the Carievale, Estevan, and Oungre crossings, the hours of operation will be from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. from the second Sunday of March to the first Saturday of November, and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. the rest of the year. At the Northgate crossing the hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from the first Sunday of November to the second Saturday of March, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. the rest of the year.
The crossings on the American side in North Dakota that will see changes are Noonan, which will expand its hours to 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. as will Fortuna. The crossing at Scobey will be expanding its hours from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. from June 1st to September 15th, and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. from September 16th to May 31st. The port at Opheim, Montana, will expand its hours to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.
The remaining ports of entry, including the busier ports at North Portal and Regway, will remain at their existing hours of operation.