21-02-2025
Brad Dokken: Canada extends Remote Area Border Crossing permits through 2025, but questions remain
Feb. 21—There was good news (sort of) this week for people who live, work or play in remote areas along the U.S.-Canada border, when the Canada Border Services Agency announced that all Remote Area Border Crossing (RABC) permits issued after Sept. 1, 2023, will now be valid until Dec. 31, 2025.
"The CBSA is extending the validity of existing RABC permits while we complete the program review," Luke Reimer, a CBSA spokesperson, said in an email to the Herald.
The extension was effective beginning Tuesday, Feb. 18, Reimer said, and will continue until the end of this year.
RABC permits — as they're commonly known — traditionally are good for one year, but as the
Grand Forks Herald reported
in November, the Canada Border Services Agency on Sept. 25, 2024, paused the processing of new and renewal RABC applications as part of a review and update of its procedures.
That left many U.S. residents who rely on the RABC permits in places without a staffed border crossing checkpoint wondering how they could legally enter Canada to fish, camp, boat or snowmobile — to name just a few activities — in areas such as the Canadian waters of lakes and rivers along the Minnesota-Ontario border if their permits had expired or they needed to apply for one.
This week's extension to existing RABC permits eliminates those concerns, at least for now.
"New permit applications are still being accepted, but will only be processed once the review of the program has been completed," Reimer said. "More information will be shared when available."
According to the CBSA website, five remote areas are covered by the RABC program: the Pigeon River in northeast Minnesota through to — and including — Lake of the Woods, the Canadian shore of Lake Superior, Cockburn Island (on Lake Huron), Sault Ste. Marie (upper lock system) and the Northwest Angle area.
Travelers wishing to enter Canada without a valid RABC permit, or hold permits but are outside of one of the program's five designated areas, must report in person to the CBSA at an open port of entry, Reimer said. Options in that situation are limited and include Ontario highway border crossings at Pigeon River, Fort Frances and Rainy River.
There are "special procedures" in place for the Northwest Angle, which is not accessible by land from the rest of the U.S., Reimer said. Bordered on three sides by Canada, the Angle is only accessible by road by driving through about 40 miles of Manitoba.
Before Tuesday's CBSA action, Angle residents and visitors with expired RABC permits had to call the CBSA Telephone Reporting Center at (888) 226-7277 — CANPASS — to enter Canada. That remains an option for anyone at the Angle who doesn't have an RABC, but the wait time to speak with a CBSA officer can range from a few minutes to an hour or more. The last time I called the CANPASS number from Youngs Bay on the Northwest Angle mainland, I was on hold for 47 minutes before I could talk to a CBSA officer, who cleared me to travel through Manitoba so I could get back home.
Anyone needing to call the CANPASS number from the Angle can use a personal cellphone or visit an Outlying Area Report Station (OARS) phone at Jim's Corner, Carlson's Landing or Youngs Bay on the Northwest Angle mainland, Reimer said.
Still to be determined, of course, is when the RABC program will be back online or if a new program will be rolled out to take its place.
Here's an excerpt from an email the CBSA sent to a permit holder on the Northwest Angle:
"The CBSA is continuing to review the RABC program against service needs and evolving trends, while ensuring the safety, security and prosperity of Canada in order to ensure the program reflects member needs."
In other words, stay tuned.
