Minister Blaney Announces New NEXUS lanes

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Nov. 29, 2013) - The Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, today announced the opening of two additional NEXUS lanes, one at the Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle border crossing in Quebec and another at the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel in Ontario.

The new lanes will be used to process NEXUS members during high-volume periods and as regular lanes at other times. With the additions announced today, there are now two NEXUS lanes at this Quebec crossing, and three at the Windsor-Detroit tunnel.

"These new NEXUS lanes further illustrate our Government's commitment to facilitating the quick passage of low-risk travellers," said Minister Blaney. "We will continue to take strong action to keep our borders open to legitimate trade and travel but closed to criminals and terrorists."

These new NEXUS lanes are part of enhancements that Canada and the United States are making to the NEXUS program as part of the Beyond the Border Action Plan. These initiatives include:

• Conducting enrolment blitzes to assist with increasing application volumes;
• Streamlining the membership renewal process;
• Extending membership eligibility to Canadian and United States citizens who currently do not reside in Canada or the United States;
• Expanding NEXUS lanes at six other locations;
• Expanding Trusted Traveller Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) security screening lines in pre-clearance areas at major Canadian airports; and
• Expediting clearance through the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Pre-√ lanes at 40 participating U.S. airports for domestic, trans-border and select international flights.

Currently there are more than 917,000 NEXUS members, up from just over 601,000 in November 2011. NEXUS members also enjoy expedited travel across the Canada-U.S. border at designated air and marine locations.

For more information on NEXUS, go to www.nexus.gc.ca.

For more information on the Beyond the Border Action Plan, please visit: www.actionplan.gc.ca/border.

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