NEXUS centers reopening in Canadian airports

Canada and U.S. government officials announced that NEXUS enrollment centers will reopen at eight Canadian airports within the next month. 

The March 20 announcements from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) come after about 350,000 applicants have experienced interview backlogs over the past year. 

This will be the first time Canadian enrollment centers have reopened since the pandemic, and nearly a year after U.S. enrollment centers reopened last April. 

A debate between governments on whether CBP agents could carry guns in Canadian processing centers was widely thought to be a contributor to Canada’s delay to reopen the NEXUS centers. The debate centered around a 2019 U.S./Canada preclearance agreement that authorized U.S. agents to carry guns wherever CBSA carried in Canadian airports and ports, according to previous reporting in The Northern Light. But as CBSA agents are not allowed to be armed, there was debate on whether U.S. agents could carry.

CBSA spokesperson Rebecca Purdy told The Northern Light last August that U.S. and Canada officials were clarifying legal protections for U.S. CBP officers working in enrollment centers. 

Canadian NEXUS centers will no longer have Canada and U.S. border officials together during interviews, as was done before the pandemic. 

Applicants now have three options to complete their interviews. They can either have a joint interview at a U.S. enrollment center; interview at a Canadian land enrollment center and then interview separately at a U.S. enrollment center on the U.S./Canada border; or air travelers can do a two-step process where U.S. and Canadian border agents will conduct interviews separately.

Canadian enrollment centers have already begun interviews with the reopening of the Halifax and Winnipeg international airports on March 27 and Vancouver International Airport on April 3. 

Other NEXUS centers will soon reopen at the following international airports: Calgary and Edmonton on Wednesday, April 12, Montreal-Trudeau on Monday, April 17, Toronto and Ottawa on Monday, April 24. 

Existing NEXUS cardholders who renew their membership before its expiration date have five years to complete their interview, according to the Canadian government. 

A CBSA spokesperson was unable to provide answers by press time on how many applicants were currently waiting for NEXUS interviews and how long applicants should expect it will take for NEXUS interviews.