Ontario’s gateways key to competitiveness

            The free flow of goods and services across the Canada-United States border is key to Ontario’s continued economic prosperity and competitiveness. Ontario’s gateways are also very important for tourism as most tourists travel to Ontario by automobile.

            Thirteen bridges and one tunnel link the province with the States of New York, Michigan and Minnesota. The border crossings in southwestern Ontario and the Niagara Region are among the busiest on the North American continent.

·      Windsor-Detroit is the busiest border truck crossing for those under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), with 1.8 million crossings in 2000.

·      Close to one million Ontario jobs depend directly on trade with the province’s largest trading partner, the United States.

·      Figures for the year 2000 show that Ontario exported more than $200 billion (CDN) in goods and services to the United States. More than 93 per cent of the province’s international exports went to the United States. This trade was equivalent to approximately half of the province’s Gross Domestic product.

·      Since 1989, when the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement was signed, two-way trade between the countries has almost tripled. Ontario now accounts for more than 50% of Canada/U.S. trade, of which over two-thirds is shipped by truck.

Action plan on streamlining border trade

            The Ontario government’s action plan on streamlining border trade includes recommendations from the Industry Leaders Roundtable on Border Issues. Present at these roundtable meetings were Ontario corporate executives, business leaders and senior government officials from the provincial, federal and New York State governments.

            The roundtable, which took place in November 2001, discussed the best ways to ensure the continued flee flow of goods, services and people across the Canadian/U.S. border while improving necessary security precautions.

            The report from the roundtable recommended:

·      establishing a North American security perimeter;

·      harmonizing border procedures between Canada and the United States;

·      increasing pre-clearance and identification procedures, and

·      using new and existing technological measures.

Through contact with counterparts in Ottawa and across the border, the Ontario Government will continue to promote streamlined cross border trade, and develop an integrated, comprehensive proposal for a security perimeter.