News Release

National 2006

NEXUS Highway celebrates its 100,000^th member mark

Ottawa, Ontario, September 21, 2006 -- The Minister of Public Safety, the Honourable Stockwell Day, announced today that NEXUS Highway has reached the 100,000th member mark.

“The strong participation in the NEXUS Highway program on both sides of the border is a testament to its success,” said Minister Day. “In addition to helping ensure security at our shared land border crossings, NEXUS Highway offers low-risk travellers a simplified entry process and eases the movement of legitimate trade,” he added.

NEXUS Highway is a joint Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program that is designed to simplify border crossings for pre-approved travellers. NEXUS Highway members are allowed to use dedicated lanes at various locations while travelling across the Canada/U.S. border.

This milestone in NEXUS participation demonstrates the solid working relationship between Canada and the United States and a strong track record in implementing technology at the border to both secure and facilitate legitimate trade and travel.

Besides offering improved service to the travelling public, the high level of security associated with the NEXUS Highway program allows the CBSA and CBP to concentrate their efforts on potentially higher-risk travellers and goods, thereby upholding security and protection standards at the border.

NEXUS Highway is an initiative of the Smart Border Declaration’s 32-point Action Plan and stems from the Canada–U.S. Accord on Our Shared Border. NEXUS Highway began operations in the summer of 2002 and there are currently NEXUS lanes at 11 border crossings. The NEXUS program also includes Air and Marine components.

It is expected that the NEXUS Highway and Air programs will meet the requirements of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). The WHTI is a U.S. initiative that will require all travellers, including Canadians, to present a passport or another appropriate secure document when entering the United States from within the western hemisphere. The WHTI air and sea rules are proposed to come into effect as of January 8, 2007. The land rules are slated to come into effect January 1, 2008.

For more information, please visit the NEXUS Web site at www.nexus.gc.ca.

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For media information

Mélisa Leclerc
Office of the Honourable Stockwell Day
Minister of Public Safety
(613) 991-2863