The federal government says the NEXUS trusted-traveller program will fully ramp back up within five weeks, allowing frequent border crossers to complete their applications and speed up their trips.
Registering for the program has been halted in Canada for nearly a year after NEXUS enrolment centres unlocked their doors in the United States, due in part to a clash over US agents’ right to carry guns on Canadian soil, among other legal protections.
The standoff has led to a massive backlog in applications for the program, which allows pre-approved travellers to cross the border more quickly.
A compromise announced at a summit in January that Canadian border agents will now interview NEXUS applicants separately from US agents at eight Canadian airports, rather than together like before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Canada Border Services Agency says airport enrolment centres will reopen for applicant sit-downs as follows:
March 27 – Halifax and Winnipeg
April 3 – Vancouver
April 12 – Calgary and Edmonton
April 17 – Montreal-Trudeau
April 24 – Toronto Pearson and Ottawa
This new enrolment option for air travellers has two steps: Canadian airport enrolment centres will be staffed with CBSA officers who will complete the Canadian portion of the NEXUS interview, and the US interviews are completed by CBP at Canadian airport preclearance locations when applicants depart Canada to fly to the US. Conditionally approved NEXUS applicants and renewing members who require an interview will be able to book the Canadian portion of their interview at one of these airports through the Trusted Traveller Programs scheduler as interview times become available.
Applicants can now choose from among three options for their NEXUS interviews:
1. A joint US-Canada interview at a land enrolment centre (14 locations) in the US.
2. A split interview at a Canadian land enrolment centre (two locations) followed by an interview at a US land enrolment centre (Canadian interview is conducted at the Canadian enrolment centre and the US interview completed at the corresponding US enrolment centre located just across the border at the port of entry).
3. The new two-step interview at a Canadian airport enrolment centre (eight locations), followed by an interview at a US preclearance location in a Canadian airport. Additional details for this option include:
• Both interviews do not need to be completed on the same day, nor at the same airport. To access a preclearance location at an airport for their US interview, applicants must be a ticketed passenger travelling to the US that day.
• Once the Canadian interview is complete, applicants can complete the US interview before their subsequent flight to the US at a preclearance location. No appointment is required for this US interview, but applicants should give themselves extra time before their flight. Applicants should refer to the CBP NEXUS enrolment centre website to confirm operating hours at Preclearance/US Customs and Border Protection (cbp.gov).
• After being conditionally approved for NEXUS, applicants have up to five years to complete both the US and Canadian interviews. A decision regarding their NEXUS application will not be made until both interviews are complete.
• Applicants must complete their two NEXUS interviews in the same mode – either land or air – but not a combination of the two.
Existing members who renew their membership prior to the expiry date will have their benefits extended for up to five years to allow for the scheduling and completion of interviews, as required (if they have not been auto-renewed).
The agency said in July the number of NEXUS applications had ballooned by 21% in just three months to nearly 342,000, though Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said the backlog had shrunk by about 100,000 by late January.