The US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, along with Ray LaHood, Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation, Denis Lebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, and Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, released the first-ever joint United States-Canada Border Infrastructure Investment Plan (BIIP). The development and release of this initiative fulfills a commitment made under the 2011 United States-Canada Beyond the Border Action Plan.

“An integrated, bilateral approach to border investment is critical to both the US and Canadian economies,” said Secretary Napolitano. “The Border Infrastructure Investment Plan offers enhanced security along our shared US-Canadian border, while reducing wait times at major border crossings—increasing the flow of traffic across the border while ensuring safe and secure trade and travel.”

The BIIP is an interagency and binational planning mechanism developed to establish a mutual understanding of recent, ongoing, and potential border infrastructure investments. It outlines the approach that the United States and Canada will take to coordinate plans for physical infrastructure upgrades at small and remote ports of entry. This initiative will be updated and disseminated annually.