Canadians entering the United States by land or water must present two pieces of identification. The first must be a government-issued photo ID such as a driver's licence. The second can be either a valid passport, a birth certificate, a citizenship card, or a NEXUS or Free and Secure Trade (FAST) card. These requirements come from the U.S. Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.
Canadian citizens flying to or through the U.S. must present a valid Canadian passport.
The Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program expedites border clearance and reduces delays for pre-approved, low-risk truck drivers, carriers, and importers. The program promotes free and secure trade by using common risk-management principles, supply chain security, industry partnership and advanced technology. This approach improves the efficiency of screening and of clearing commercial traffic at the border.
The program is a joint Canada–United States initiative involving
the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the United States Customs and
Border Protection (CBP) Agency.
There are three major participant groups who are eligible for FAST: importers, carriers, and drivers.
FAST will be available to those participants who have a demonstrated history of compliance with all relevant legislation and regulations, and have acceptable books, records and audit trails.
FAST participants must meet the requirements of Canada's Partners in Protection (PIP) program or the United States Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program. As part of these programs, companies must adopt and implement security procedures to be compatible with guidelines set by both the CBSA and CBP.
The Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program supports moving pre-approved eligible goods across the border quickly and verifying trade compliance away from the border.
FAST, based on sound risk management techniques, focuses on greater speed and certainty at the border and reduces the cost of compliance by:
In Canada, FAST builds on the Customs Self-Assessment (CSA) program and its principles of pre-approval and self-assessment, as well as increased security measures under the Partners in Protection (PIP) program.
Currently, Canada and the United States jointly offer expedited Customs clearance processes to pre-authorized drivers, carriers and importers at the following major border crossings:
* Dedicated FAST Lane
** Dedicated FAST Lane Southbound only
Currently, there are ten FAST commercial driver enrolment centres located at the following locations:
For more information, including how to register, please visit the FAST program Web site.
New Brunswick Contact(s):
See National Contact.