Canadians shopping in U.S. pushing border resources to limit

CBC News

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Sep 26, 2006
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They're filling a border refugee processing centre to capacity on the weekends, but these weary travellers entering Canada from the U.S. aren't seeking asylum — they're cross-border shoppers lured south by the loonie's record-breaking showing against the Yankee greenback.

Bargain-hungry shoppers — often arriving by the busload — have been choking key border crossings across the country on weekends, straining resources at the border and forcing officials to scramble to find staff and facilities to process their purchases.
Residents of St. Stephen, N.B., endured a two-kilometre lineup of vehicles snaking through their small town bordering on Maine during the Remembrance Day weekend. At the same time, the wait at the Pacific Highway border crossing in Surrey, B.C., was about four hours long.

In Ontario, the crush of cross-border shoppers has led to extraordinary measures.

Last Sunday, 50 chartered shopping buses carrying up to 55 people each began arriving after 4 p.m. at the Fort Erie crossing from Buffalo. With no personal exemptions on same-day travel purchases, hundreds of shoppers had to be processed for tax and possible duty payments.
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Have the long border waits put off your plans for a weekend shopping excursion south of the border?


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