Rising Dollar Puts Border Agency at Odds With Own Regulations

(Canadian Press)

The soaring loonie has placed Canada’s border agency in violation of its own regulations.

An audit has found that the Canada Border Services Agency has been inadvertently giving American travellers a big price break over Canadian travellers for a special card that speeds their passage across the Canada-U.S. border.

The so-called Nexus pass, which allows pre-screened passengers to clear customs quickly, currently costs $80 Canadian, a price set by regulations established in 2002.

But the regulations also allow Americans to pay US$50 for the pass - equivalent to $80 Canadian five years ago but now significantly out of whack as the loonie has soared higher than the greenback.

“The fee structure that was originally set in 2002 was no longer equitable in 2006 and favoured U.S. applicants,” says the newly released audit, based on findings from last year.

“In addition, by accepting a Nexus fee payment of US$50, in 2006 the CBSA was collecting less than the amount prescribed in the regulations.”

Nexus is an international program run jointly with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. To date, more than 100,000 travellers have obtained the highway version of the pass, the part of Nexus examined in detail by auditors, after thorough security checks on both sides of the border and an in-person interview.

The program began as a land-border card, replacing a Canada-only program known as Canpass Highway, and expanded with a pilot project in late 2004 at the Vancouver airport to include air travellers.

Nexus has since broadened to include other international airports and border points, such as a marine crossing at Detroit-Windsor, and the now-harmonized program covers land, marine and air.

The popular card, good for five years and renewable, saves frequent travellers time and hassle at often-choked customs lanes and frees customs officers to concentrate on other travellers .

Both countries jointly set the fees in 2002 at the prevailing exchange rates.

Canadian applicants have always had the option of paying for the card in U.S. dollars, which is now a significantly cheaper option. But doing so requires using an American-issued credit card, international money order or certified cheque, hoops that few Canadians jump through.

Applicants using a Canadian credit card are automatically charged the $80, which means the fee system is heavily biased in favour of Americans.

The audit recommends reviewing the fee structure “to support a consistent fee arrangement between Canada and the United States.”

A spokesman says Canada’s border agency is re-examining the entire Nexus program to ensure the fees are appropriate and equitable.

“We’ve initiated a review of the costs associated with the program,” Chris Williams said in an interview.

The agency expects the review to be finished by April next year.