Library

Title: "A New Bridge for Old Allies"
Author(s): Michael Kergin and Birgit Matthiesen, Canadian International Council
Date: November 2008
Summary: Regional economic integration is the dominant trend in Europe, Asia and Africa; however, Canada and the U.S. appear to be moving in the opposite direction, says a new report from the Canadian International Council (CIC). The CIC study, entitled "A New Bridge for Old Allies," confronts the question: how can the U.S. and Canada protect each other from harm while maintaining their competitive edge and quality of life? It examines how to reverse the disturbing tendency for border security to pull the economies of the two countries apart rather than enabling them to be drawn closer together.

Title: "Inventory of Current Programs for Measuring Wait Times at Land Border Crossings"
Author(s): Jonathan Sabean and Crystal Jones
Date: May 2008
Summary: This report was prepared for Canadian and U.S. customs agencies to identify the programs that are currently in place to measure border wait times. It includes a list of the users of archived and real-time information, and provides a definition of border wait time. The various technologies available for measuring border congestion are outlined, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each. A description of all the current and planned border wait time systems at the Canada-U.S. and U.S.-Mexico border crossings is also presented.

Title: "The Vital Connection: Reclaiming Great Lakes Economic Leadership in the Bi-National U.S.-Canadian Region"
Author(s): John C. Austin, Britany Affolter-Caine. The Brookings Institution
Date: March 2008
Summary: The bi-national Great Lakes region can continue to model what economic regions will look like in the global economy—and also how they can thrive. To realize this vision will require leadership and purposeful actions that acknowledge the unique opportunities provided by the Great Lakes economy. Only the U.S. president and Congress, along with the Canadian prime minister and Parliament, can promote understanding of the economic opportunities to be realized. Working together, and working with federal leadership, the opportunity is real for the Great Lakes region to forge a new economic leadership position, and serve anew as a model for world economic and social innovation.

Title: "The Border Story - A North American Steel Industry Perspective"
Author(s): North American Steel Trade Committee
Date: February 2008
Summary: This report summarizes priority issues at the Canada/U.S. and U.S./Mexico borders for the North American Steel Industry. The issues explored have been grouped under three headings related to border policies including regulatory issues, infrastructure and personnel, documentation requirements, security compliance and other more general issues. This synthesis of common border-related impediments is to followed-up by assessments and/or recommendations for each of the issues cited.

Title: "Finding the Balance: Reducing Border Costs While Strengthening Border Security "
Author(s): U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Date: February 2008
Summary: A coalition, co-chaired by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, in close collaboration with members and partnering associations, released a report that includes recommendations to both the U.S. and Canadian governments to reduce the costs of border crossings and to strengthen national security. The Report included calls for short-term measures to eliminate duplicative and burdensome border requirements and facilitate the movement of legitimate passenger and cargo traffic.

Title: "Guide for Planning and Constructing Border Crossing Projects"
Author(s): Eastern Border Transportation Coalition
Date: January 2008
Summary: The Eastern Border Transportation Coalition observed that, often, planners of new border projects are not totally familiar with all of the aspects relating to it being a “border” project as opposed to an intra-jurisdictional one. Border projects require significant inter-agency consultation and a number of approvals from various governmental agencies, at the federal, state/provincial and local levels. Therefore, EBTC created this guide as a reference document and initial primer to facilitate the planning process and provide a roadmap to the issues involved with the necessary interagency cooperation and approval processes. It briefly outlines the responsibilities of the various agencies and provides a “link” to more complete information.

Title: "Economic Analysis of Security Measures Affecting Transportation Stakeholders in Canada "
Author(s): InterVISTAS Consulting Inc.
Date: November 2007
Summary: In September 2005, Transport Canada commissioned an empirical investigation into the direct operating and capital costs, as well as indirect impacts, imposed by the Canadian and U.S. security measures introduced after September 11th, 2001 and in place before April 2005. This study examines the impact on Canadian air carriers, airports, rail carriers, marine port authorities and facilities, marine shipping lines, and freight forwarders. An earlier study which examined the impact of security measures on the Canadian trucking industry has been incorporated into this report for completeness. Over 50 in-depth interviews were conducted and an additional 136 survey responses were received from the above key stakeholder groups. In most cases, the interview and survey respondents represented a fairly high proportion of the traffic carried by their respective modes. For most modes, the results from the respondents have been scaled up to estimate the impact on the entire Canadian transportation industry.

Title: "Easing the Chokepoints - A Plan for an Efficient Canada-U.S. Border"
Author(s): Ontario Chamber of Commerce
Date: August 2007
Summary: The latest in a series of border and transportation-related infrastructure publications by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC), was released in August 2007. The Report contains recommendations designed to help alleviate border-related difficulties by streamlining overlap and/or duplication in transportation, trade, and security regulations, and by providing sufficient resources to support and/or expand trusted traveller and trade-security programs.

Title: "Strategic responses by Canadian and U.S. exporters to increased U.S. border security measures: a firm- level analysis" Canada-United States Trade Centre Occasional Paper No. 36 (Buffalo: State University of New York)
Author(s): Anneliese Vance
Date: July 2007
Summary: The primary goal of this report was to understand how business professionals, whose livelihoods are directly related to the ease and efficiency of cross-border movement, perceive & strategically accommodate policy changes that affect the permeability of the international border within the greater Niagara region (i.e., Southern Ontario & Western New York State). Semi-structured qualitative interviews (35) with Canadian & U.S. firms who regularly use the region's main border crossing points (primarily the Peace, Whirlpool, and Queenston-Lewiston Bridges) were conducted.

Title: "Reaching the Tipping Point: Effects of Post-9/11 Border Security on Canada’s Trade and Investment"
Author(s): Danielle Goldfarb, The Conference Board of Canada
Date: June 2007
Summary: This report presents an extensive analysis of the cumulative effects of post-9/11 border security policies on Canada-U.S. trade volumes, costs and benefits. Maintaining and enhancing secure, predictable access to the United States economy has been a long-standing objective of Canadian leaders. Drawing on almost 60 interviews and extensive statistical analysis, the Board finds that the cumulative effects of post-9/11 border policies have neither reduced Canadian export volumes to the U.S. nor increased border delays. However, this new border environment has resulted in important costs for many companies. This may make it less attractive to locate plants in Canada in the long term. The new border environment can represent opportunities; however, some companies have gained a competitive edge by investing in new border security programs to fast-track cargo. The report offers recommendations to maximize these benefits and minimize the costs of the post-9/11 border reality.

Title: "Tighter Border Security and its Effect on Canadian Exports "
Author(s): Michael Burt, The Conference Board of Canada
Date: June 2007
Summary: This report uses statistical methods to assess the impact that tighter border security in a post-9/11 world has had on Canada’s exports to the United States. The 9/11 terrorist attacks led to increased security at the Canada-U.S. border. This change has raised concerns about significant disruptions in international trade between the two countries, in the form of delays and increased compliance costs. After accounting for economic growth in the United States and relative prices between the two countries, the study finds little evidence that tighter border security has reduced export volumes. Industry-specific factors, such as the tech bust, were more important in explaining reduced trade flows.

Title: "2006 Border Policies"
Author(s): Ontario Chamber of Commerce
Date: October 2006
Summary: The Ontario Chamber of Commerce and its members are greatly concerned about the efficient movement of goods and people across the Ontario-U.S. border. The facilitation of trade and travel of commercial and passenger traffic is of the utmost importance. Annually, $1.2 trillion are transported on Ontario highways, and one in four jobs are dependent on the export industry. As such, the Ontario-US border is of critical importance to the provincial - and national - economy. Delays at Canada's most important border crossings cost the Canadian and US economies more than $13 billion annually. This report outlines the issues and provides key OCC recommendations on how to address the challenges at our borders.

Title: "The Emergence of Cross-Border Regions Between Canada and the United States: Roundtable Synthesis Report"
Author(s): Government of Canada
Date: May 2006
Summary: This work was part of the Policy Research Initiative’s (PRI) research on the growing extent of various links between Canada and the United States, creating cross-border regional relationships, and the sub-national dimensions of North American economic integration. PRI partnered with Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Western Economic Diversification Canada, and Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions to conduct a series of regional roundtables between November 2005 and March 2006.

Title: "CBP's Trusted Traveler Systems Using RFID Technology Require Enhanced Security"
Author(s): U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Date: May 2006
Summary: This report assesses the strengths and weaknesses of controls over systems using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). It is based on interviews with employees and officials of relevant agencies and institutions, direct observations, technical scans, and a review of applicable documents.

Title: "The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU)"
Author(s): U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration
Date: August 2005
Summary: This link will take you directly to the reauthorized U.S. federal transportation law. SAFETEA-LU authorizes U.S. federal surface transportation programs for highways, highway safety, and transit for the 5-year period 2005-2009.

Title: "The Cumulative Impact of U.S. Import Compliance Programs at the Canada-U.S. Land Border on the Canadian Trucking Industry"
Author(s): DAMF Consultants in association with L.P Tardif and Associates
Date: May 2005
Summary: Transport Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Transport and the Federation of Québec Chambers of Commerce, in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport of Québec, jointly commissioned a study to provide the federal government, as well as provincial and industry partners, with a better understanding of the cumulative impact of U.S. import compliance programs at the Canada/U.S. land border. The New Brunswick and Manitoba departments of Transportation, as well as two industry associations - the Canadian Trucking Alliance and the Owner-Operators’ Business Association of Canada, also participated in this study.

Title: "Building a North American Community"
Author(s): Council on Foreign Relations
Date: May 2005
Summary: In this report, a distinguished group of Canadian, Mexican, and American experts explore key issues that require more cooperation on the continent-including economics, regulatory policy, security, the developing gap, and tri-national institutions-and offers a vision for the relationship among the three countries for the next ten years. The report recommends a single economic space that expands economic opportunity for all people in the region, and the establishment of a security zone that protects the region from external threats while facilitating the legitimate passage of goods, people, and capital.

Title: "Border Security and Canada-US Integration: Toward a Research Policy Agenda: A Symposium at Western Washington University. " Summary of Proceedings
Author(s): N/A
Date: April 2005
Summary: The goal of this one-day symposium was to examine the impacts of new security measures on border functions, management and economic integration in the Canada-US context. The symposium brought together practitioners from government and business to exchange ideas with academic experts on critical issues impacting the Canada-US border. An important objective of the symposium was the identification of critical research topics relevant to border public policy. These topics are listed following the summaries of each conference presentation.

Title: "Cost of Border Delays to the United States Economy"
Author(s): The Ontario Chamber of Commerce Border and Trade Development Committee
Date: April 2005
Summary: This report is meant as a follow-up to the OCC’s 2004 study. The 2005 report examines the cost effects of border delays to the U.S. economy. The report estimates that the U.S. absorbs up to 40 percent of the current cost of border delays.

Title: "The Jobs Tunnel: The Economic Impact of Adequate Border Crossing Infrastructure." Author(s): Michael Belzer
Date: November 2004
Summary: This study was commissioned by the Detroit River Tunnel Partnership and is specific to the Windsor- Detroit corridor. It documents the economic cost of doing nothing to international crossing capacity within the corridor, and focuses on economic issues, particularly in the area of automotive production.

Title: "Fixing the Potholes in North American Transportation Systems." Choices, Vol. 10, no. 8, Institute for Research on Public Policy
Author(s): Norman Bonsor
Date: August 2004
Summary: This report argues that significant delays at major border crossings have pushed transportation costs above an efficient level. The report suggests that three areas need to be addressed with some urgency to stem costly delays experienced by truck traffic at the border: infrastructure, processing systems, and staffing levels.

Title: "Cost of Border Delays to Ontario."
Author(s): The Ontario Chamber of Commerce Border and Trade Development Committee
Date: May 2004
Summary: This report quantifies the costs of border delays on the Ontario economy, and considers the impact of delays on production, revenue, investment, tourism and on the province’s automotive industry.

Title: "The U.S.-Canada Border: Cost Impacts, Causes, and Short to Long Term Management Options"
Author(s): John C. Taylor and Douglas Robideaux
Date: May 2003
Summary: This report summarizes the results of a research project aimed at estimating the costs of border crossing transit time and uncertainty, and other border related costs, and their impact on the U.S. and Canadian economies. The study also seeks to understand immediate post-9/11 impacts.

Title: "Evaluation of Travel Time Methods to Support Mobility Performance Monitoring: FY 2001 Synthesis Report"
Author(s): Texas Transportation Institute
Date: April 2002
Summary: At the request of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, the Texas Transportation Institute undertook a project in 2001 that focused on measuring the time it takes freight trucks to cross the border. The project sought to discover which parts of the crossing process that local and state transportation agencies could improve, and determined a benchmark border crossing delay measure for commercial vehicles at seven separate international crossings, four of which are located on the Canada-U.S. border.

Title: "2000 IMTC Cross-Border Trade and Travel Study Final Report." International Mobility and Trade Corridor Project
Author(s): Cambridge Systematics Inc.
Date: September 2001
Summary: The International Mobility and Trade Corridor Project (IMTC) is a U.S.-Canadian coalition of government and business entities that identifies and promotes improvements to mobility and security for the four border crossings between Whatcom County, Washington State, and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. Together, these four crossings are called the Cascade Gateway. The IMTC’s Cross-Border Trade and Travel Study was completed in 2001 as a response to the need identified by IMTC participants for better data on the Cascade Gateway.