71 crossings need upgrade, five in Ontario

OTTAWA— The Canada Border Services Agency is hurrying to upgrade or replace 71 small, aging border crossings across the Canada-U.S. border. Tender documents released Wednesday show that the CBSA is moving along with a $440-million upgrade to a number of smaller border crossings spanning the country.

“When the CBSA was created in 2003, it inherited a portfolio of operational and other administrative buildings (e.g., housing) that had not been updated/maintained on a systemic basis,” the tender documents explain.

“Maintaining adequate fixed infrastructure has been a pervasive issue predating CBSA’s creation and continues to be a major impediment to fulfilling the Crown’s economic and security priorities and for the agency to respond to changes in its operation environment.”

The upgrades will done by a publicprivate partnership, an agreement between a private-sector consortium to maintain the new facilities for a period of 30 years.

According to the tender, 71out of117 land crossings will be given completely new buildings, except in the case of a heritage designation that needs to be respected.

“The intent is to have a single entity . . . create a suitable design for each site, to handle all construction aspects including environmental for each site, to maintain all infrastructure related to each site, to provide facility maintenance at each site and to provide housekeeping as specified.”

Five of the crossings to be replaced are located in Ontario: Pelee Island, Pigeon River, Rainy River, Sand Point Lake and Walpole.

Based on the documents, it appears that CBSA officials will continue to provide security screening and admission duties.

The border services agency was not immediately available for comment Thursday.