Dignitaries and Canada Border Services Agency officials cut the ribbon on the expanded Emerson Port of Entry on Friday.

The project added a new and larger commercial warehouse for truck examinations, a dedicated bus examination bay and lobby area, and a widened highway to allow for three bi-level primary inspection booths for more efficient processing of commercial traffic. 

Jim Carr, minister of International Trade Diversification, says the Government of Canada invested $19 million dollars into the project.

"Today billions of dollars in trade flows through here every year. The current expansion project aims to increase capacity to ensure what is truly a gateway in to Manitoba and Western Canada, helping to sustain and grow the flow of commercial and tourism opportunities," said Carr. "This is integral to supporting and growing the Canadian economy by opening Canadian businesses to a larger market while protecting industry. This facility welcomes travellers to Canada, and those tourism dollars directly contribute to local economies."

Nina Patel, CBSA Regional Director General for the Prairie Region, said border officers at Emerson screen more people and goods than any other land crossing on The Prairies. 

According to CBSA, officers at Emerson welcomed almost 878,000 travellers in more than 271,000 cars and 208,000 commercial trucks in 2017. In fact, the Emerson Port of Entry ranked 7th nationally in number of trucks processed at a land border crossing.

"This new facility will ensure that we are able to meet the demands of our high-volume, 24/7 operation," said Patel. "The new warehouse has increased our infrastructure capacity for examining commercial traffic. That's going to help us clear loads more effectively and efficiently so we can get the commercial drivers on their way to where they are going."

Because of Emerson's status as a top commercial port, Patel says many of the improvements are geared towards the trucking industry, however the hope is that these new efficiencies will serve all travellers coming through the border. 

Greg Janzen is reeve for the Municipality of Emerson-Franklin where the Emerson border crossing is located. He is pleased to see that the facility has been brought into the 21st Century. 

"There are a lot of people that work here that actually live in our municipality...so opening more lanes and allowing more traffic to come through (means) more people are needed to work. It's a benefit for our municipality."

This is the first major expansion to the Emerson Port of Entry in about 20 years.