Events

This technology forum was designed to provide to industry and government participants a workshop for emerging technologies to help with pandemic response and border innovation. The forum was also geared towards providing input for the update of “The Beyond Preclearance: The Next Generation U.S.–Canada Border” White Paper developed in 2018 which provided a vision and strategy for border innovation to improve efficiency, effectiveness and security. The scope of this pandemic recovery technology forum centred on the theme of biometrics, interoperability and the role of technology in border reopening.

The Future Borders Coalition brought together a senior group of government officials and industry leaders to discuss concrete solutions aimed at ensuring that cross-border trade and supply chains are as seamless as possible. With the conclusion of USMCA, there are clearly opportunities to grow models to improve clearance processes, and to support the distribution of essential goods/services. Economic recovery provides a golden opportunity to improve efficiencies at the border and this webinar sought to promote government-industry collaboration going forward.

The webinar also honored the passing of Jim Phillips, founder of the Canadian/American Border Trade Alliance. A special recognition to his legacy took place between the government and industry panels.

One year after the closure of the Canada-U.S. border, the Future Borders Coalition brought together a group of government officials and task force leaders to discuss concrete policy proposals and pilot projects aimed at restoring public confidence in cross-border travel from a multi-modal perspective: air, land and maritime. Sponsored by Amazon Web Services Institute, this webinar also sought to promote a cross-modal approach for recovery, based on a cohesive border vision supported by technology and improvements to border processes and facilities.

In partnership with the National Airlines Council of Canada (NACC) and the Canadian Airports Council (CAC), the Future Borders Coalition held the webinar “Paths to Recovery: Testing and Vaccination for Safe Restart of Air Travel”. This event brought together a group of senior government officials and seasoned industry executives to discuss policy solutions for recovery and identify concrete steps to restore public confidence in air travel.

Gerry Bruno, Executive Director of the Future Borders Coalition, spoke in the session Ambassador Roundtable Listening Session with Canada's Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman and U.S. Acting Ambassador to Canada, Chargé D'Affaires Katherine Brucker on November 17, 2020, as well as the session Health, Safety, and Innovation for Smart Borders on November 18, 2020.

To view more details, please click here.

Gerry Bruno, Executive Director of the Future Borders Coalition, will provide an overview of the Future Borders Coalition in this online event hosted by North American Strategy for Competitiveness (NASCO).

Gerry Bruno, Executive Director of the Future Borders Coalition, provided updates on the Coalition in the Canada Institute Advisory Board meeting hosted by the Woodrow Wilson Center.

To view the presentation deck, please click here.

The Cascadia Innovation Corridor hosted an informative forum exploring new innovations and technologies which support safe cross-border travel and economic recovery. The virtual forum brought together business, academic, and government leaders from both sides of the border to explore new strategies for the region to come together, maximize our shared competitive advantages, and elevate our global economic position.

Gerry Bruno, Executive Director of the Future Borders Coalition, spoke in a Panel Discussion in this virtual forum on future borders and health pre-clearance pilot programs at YVR and SeaTac.

To view the recording of the virtual forum, please click here.

Gerry Bruno, Executive Director of the Future Borders Coalition, provided updates on the Coalition in the Canadian and US Policy Council meeting hosted by Airports Council International - North America (ACI-NA) and Canadian Airports Council (CAC).

To view the presentation deck, please click here.

Gerry Bruno, Executive Director of the Future Borders Coalition, spoke at a Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT-NA) webinar about the contributions of the Coalition towards border policy and the work of three COVID-19 recovery task forces.

Today, as the world tries to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, and the Canada/U.S. border remains closed, the Coalition will play a key role in shaping the border policies of both nations. The Coalition has recently established a Border Recovery Working Group to address the short- and longer-term implications of the pandemic on the world’s longest undefended border.

To view the recording of the webinar, please click here.

In order to maintain the momentum generated during 2018, the Beyond Preclearance Coalition, in partnership with the US Chamber of Commerce and Canadian Chamber of Commerce, hosted a Transportation Border Summit on 25 April 2019 in Washington DC, in the US Chamber’s Hall of Flags. The Summit included keynote speakers, bi-national government and industry panels, and discussions on the establishment of working groups to advance short-term priorities for border innovation.

To view the full, archived webcast of the Summit, please click here.

The Summary Report for the proceedings of the Summit can be downloaded here.

As there was not an opportunity to schedule break-out groups on the day of the Transportation Border Summit, four separate advance sessions were set up to focus on specific transportation border sectors: air, marine, land and rail. These workshops allowed for either in-person attendance or web participation, and involved relevant industry and government border and security officials from the US and Canada.

Vancouver Airport Authority hosted a two-day forum focused on the recommendations related to aviation in the Beyond Preclearance White Paper. Discussion focused on developing next steps for achieving the long-term vision of the Canada–US border.

The Summary Report for the proceedings of the Summit can be downloaded here.

In partnership with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, this half-day roundtable workshop focused on the movement of goods across all modes and into and across the Canada–US border. Participants included representatives from industry and the Canadian and US governments.

As part of their contribution to the Beyond Preclearance Initiative, PNWER organized a Beyond Preclearance roundtable, which included representatives from both Canadian, US, state and provincial governments, as well as industry representatives and Coalition members. Both the US Consul General in Vancouver and the Canadian Consul General in Seattle participated in the roundtable. This facilitated session provided additional ideas for inclusion in the Beyond Preclearance White Paper. In addition, presentations and discussions on Beyond Preclearance were included in both the border and tourism sessions.

Hosted by the Beyond Preclearance Coalition and Vancouver Airport Authority's (YVR) Innovation Team, the half-day session and workshop discussion focused on seamless cross-border travel opportunities. Participants were guided through YVR's Living Lab which demonstrated how facial biometrics can be used to strengthen security and create a seamless travel experience from curb to cabin. Discussion focused on the advancements of technology and the issues of privacy, sovereignty, information sharing and storage. Participants included representatives from industry and the Canadian and US governments.

The Public Policy Forum hosted two half-day roundtables on key issues to be addressed as Canada looks to enhance the US–Canada border in light of technological developments and the pressure to facilitate trade as a key element of economic growth. Methods for streamlining the Canada–US border were central to the discussions. Representatives from industry, the Canadian and US governments and academia participated.

Download a copy of the report here.

The Woodrow Wilson Center hosted a one-day forum that explored key technology and policy questions as they relate to cross-border transportation and innovation. Experts from industry, academia and government forecasted future growth in travel and transport, analyzed threats in passenger and cargo transit, spotlighted innovations in border management, presented pilot projects and identified key issues in forging a strategic vision for the US–Canada border in the twenty-first century.

Click here to view the webcast recap.