Canadian firms urge Ottawa to resolve Nexus dispute with Washington

Nearly 60 Canadian business groups are pushing Ottawa to resolve a dispute with Washington over the popular Nexus Trusted Travel program, which allows citizens of both countries to cross the border more quickly.

The dispute, which has left some 490,000 Canadians waiting in line to get their applications approved, also involves the Fast program, which makes cross-border commercial shipments easier and subject to fewer delays.

In a letter to Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and U.S. Interior Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the business groups, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said the dispute must be resolved immediately to prevent economic and personal consequences.

“The Canadian business community is deeply concerned about the failure of both governments to agree on the reopening of Nexus and Fast enrollment facilities in Canada,” according to the Nov. 4 letter provided to The Globe and Mail. “Having a jointly managed trusted traveler program is essential both to foster economic growth and to deepen the ties between the citizens of our countries.”

Canadian Chamber of Commerce President Perrin Beatty said he is concerned the U.S. will end both programs, which would negatively affect Canadian businesses.

“We’ve reached an impasse, and at some point, if the impasse isn’t broken, it’s likely that they will offer Canadians to join everyone else in the global entry program,” Mr. Beattie said in an interview Sunday.

Mr. Mendicino’s office said late Sunday that he had held talks over the weekend with Mr. Mayorkas.

“Both parties are committed to the continued success of Nexus and are optimistic that operations can be effectively scaled up to pre-pandemic levels,” Mr. Mendicino said in a statement. He added that both countries want to “leverage the technology, streamline renewals and ensure that US personnel are deployed to Nexus enrollment centers as soon as possible.”

At issue is a dispute over legal protections for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, employees who work at Nexus offices in Canada. The Americans want the same protections for them that are guaranteed to their prior authorization workers at Canadian land ports and airports under a 2019 bilateral agreement.

Nexus and Fast are a joint program and require applicants to be interviewed by both Canadian and US customs officials before approval is granted.

Mr. Mendicino recently told The Globe that Ottawa stands firm in its position that U.S. customs officers cannot have the same legal protections at Nexus enrollment centers as they do at Canadian preclearance halls.

He said Americans who work in pre-clearance zones enjoy legal protection because “travelers are immediately on their way to the United States, unlike Nexus enrollment centers where they are far from official ports of entry.”

A U.S. official told The Globe that the problem is the lack of standard legal protection for official duties performed by CBP officers at Canada’s Trusted Traveler Enrollment Centers. For example, U.S. customs officers have the right to be tried in U.S. courts for most crimes if they are accused of a crime while on duty in Canada. The Globe did not identify the official because it was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Cohen said last week that “Canada’s problem is solvable” and the U.S. strongly opposes resuming the program without legal rights for its employees.

Mr. Cohen has told Canadian business leaders privately that the United States is prepared to cancel the Nexus and Fast programs if Ottawa does not back down, according to a source. The Globe did not identify the source because they were not authorized to disclose private conversations with Mr. Cohen.

In their letter, the Canadian business groups said both sides must “demonstrate creativity and commitment to urgently resolve outstanding issues.”

The groups, which also include the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Canadian Producers and Exporters, Food Producers of Canada and the Canadian Transportation Alliance, said they support Canada’s proposal to conduct video interviews with candidates while negotiations continue to resolve the issue.

“We urge governments to introduce such a system as quickly as possible,” the letter said.

Mr. Mendicino said he discussed the possibility of virtual interviews with U.S. Customs when he recently held talks with Mr. Mayorkas. But a US embassy official told The Globe that the virtual option is not practical and is unlikely to take off.

Before the pandemic, the U.S. official said 60 percent of Nexus’ processing was done in Canada and 80 percent of the applications were Canadian.

The official said Canadians will have to travel to Nexus enrollment offices in the U.S. or to the U.S. border to be interviewed before they can get a Nexus card. Existing Nexus members whose cards expire can continue to use the travel document for another five years, provided they apply for renewal online.

In an interview with The Globe last month, Mr. Mendicino dismissed as false reports that the dispute was over a request that U.S. customs officials carry guns into Canadian enrollment centers. Neither Canadian nor U.S. customs officials are allowed to carry weapons into Nexus centers, which are located at or near airports but separate from customs, he said.