BOUNDARY WATERS – The Remote Area Border Crossing Program ends Nov. 30.

Permits under the program will be replaced by telephone reporting to cross from Minnesota into Canada on border lakes such as Saganaga at the end of the Gunflint Trail. The new telephone reporting impacts border lakes from the Pigeon River at Lake Superior to Lake of the Woods.

Paddle & Portage media reached out to Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officials Nov. 10 to confirm the program’s termination (it’s been extended several times during recent years) and to verify the process for ice anglers to cross the border lakes in and around the Boundary Waters this winter. The same process will apply to people in motorboats and canoes next open-water season, and into the future.

Existing RABC permits will expire Nov. 30, CBSA officials confirmed this week, saying, “No further extensions of existing permits are currently being considered.”

Maria Bohotineanu, a spokesperson for CBSA, said starting Dec. 1, “All travelers entering Canada through remote areas of northern Ontario or from the Northwest Angle into southern Manitoba must report to the CBSA in person at a port of entry or at a designated telephone reporting site. Only NEXUS members are authorized to call in advance of their arrival to Canada at a designated telephone reporting site.”

NEXUS is designed to speed up border crossings into Canada and the United States for “low-risk, pre-approved travelers,” according to CBSA officials. It is jointly run by the CBSA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. NEXUS memberships are valid for five years. There is a $120 non-refundable application processing fee.

If you do not have a Nexus card, Bohotineanu said, anyone entering Canada from a remote border lake such as Saganaga must use telephone reporting to legally enter the country from the United States.

Meanwhile, Bohotineanu said, CBSA has identified over 22 new telephone reporting sites and is currently in the process of formally designating them. When sites are officially designated, it will be announced on social media and on the CBSA Directory of Services.

“Telephone reporting sites for marine pleasure craft or snowmobiles will be designated at a specific landing point on a lake, not a lake in and of itself,” Bohotineanu said.

In an update previously shared with Paddle & Portage media, Luke Reimer, a spokesperson for CBSA, said an additional reporting site on Saganaga Lake is being considered. Paddle & Portage confirmed this week with local spokespeople on the massive lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail that telephone reporting will be in place this winter on the southeast end of Red Pine Island.

The area circled in red is where a telephone reporting site is expected on Sag’s Red Pine Island. P&P image

Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario served as a rollout for the system to replace RABC permits. The telephone reporting option went live June 8 at Quetico’s Cache Bay and Prairie Portage ranger stations. A third station was later added at Sand Point Lake, according to CBSA.

The RABC Program was suspended in fall 2024, causing confusion and a barrage of other emotions for people who utilized RABC permits to cross the border lakes between Minnesota and Ontario. RABC permits were used by paddlers and others from Lake Superior near Grand Portage to Rainy Lake near International Falls.

Moving forward, people who travel between Minnesota and Ontario with any degree of frequency can enroll in the NEXUS Program. In a statement sent to Paddle & Portage media, CBSA officials said “NEXUS members may call 30 minutes to 4 hours in advance of their arrival.”

For people who don’t plan to cross the border lakes with any degree of frequency, or only when they want to take a trip to Quetico via the park’s southern entrances, the telephone reporting sites are efficient and extremely easy to use. Someone entering Cache Bay, for example, simply stops at the ranger station, uses a cell phone provided on site, and checks in with Canadian customs by providing their passport number, canoe registration number, and basic information about what they plan to do in Canada. The same will be true for snowmobilers on lakes such as Saganaga this winter.

When the Cache Bay and Prairie Portage ranger stations are not open for the season, including in early May, after mid-September, and all winter, paddlers and winter campers will need to use a different telephone reporting site to enter the park.

Telephone reporting site at Cache Bay. P&P photo

Other than the telephone reporting site expected to be active on Sag’s Red Pine Island, details on where the additional sites will be located, including near the Basswood/Sucker lakes area closer to Ely, remain unknown at this time, though that scope is narrowing and more information on the site specifics is expected in the coming weeks. Property owners with land on the Canadian side of border lakes who are interested in establishing a telephone reporting site independently must have their proposed location assessed and approved by the CBSA to ensure it can support telephone reporting services, provide reasonable access for travelers and meet the operational requirements, Bohotineanu said Nov. 13. Several site owners have expressed interest in designation and the process is underway. Sites will be announced once the designation process is complete, she said.

As referenced previously, people enrolled in NEXUS would have a more streamlined means to enter Canada on the border lakes, including during the shoulder seasons and winter.

As we reported earlier this year, officials from the Canadian government were seeking input from various stakeholders on where telephone reporting sites should be located once the RABC Program ends Nov. 30. As of this date, “All travelers entering Canada through remote areas of northern Ontario or from the Northwest Angle into southern Manitoba must report to the CBSA at a port of entry or a designated telephone reporting site,” according to CBSA officials.

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