B.C. border wait times soar as long weekend starts

Surrey, B.C. -

Hundreds of cars lined up at the Peace Arch border crossing Friday morning. By noon, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol website reported a three-hour-long wait.

Many travellers trapped in the long line on Highway 99 told CTV News the delay sparked interest in applying for a NEXUS card.

The trusted-traveller program resumed taking applications in March, after a nearly three-year hiatus due to the pandemic and a clash over U.S. border agents' right to carry guns on Canadian soil.

Shri Kant and his two friends had been waiting for nearly two hours at the crossing when CTV News spoke with them Friday.

“No, we didn’t check and we should have checked before coming,” Kant said when asked about the wait.

After two years of pandemic-inflicted border closures, he says the wait is worth it for a long-weekend trip stateside.

But others who were waiting for a day trip in the U.S. weren’t as positive.

“If I knew it was this long of a line I wouldn’t have shown up here,” said Marian Ghelgagl.

Ghelgagl and his family of five had been in line for more than an hour.

The long wait led his wife looking into a applying for a NEXUS card.

“With the long wait, I think it’s worth it,” he said.

By 4 p.m., the wait at the border had gone down to 30 minutes.