Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce hails border crossing upgrades

The Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce based in Medicine Hat is welcoming future upgrades to their nearest border crossing to the United States. Canada Border Services Agency has recently begun work into upgrading the Wild Horse port of entry, the crossing closest to the U.S from Medicine Hat. CBSA says that while the crossing will not change their hours, the Canada side of the crossing will see new infrastructure upgrades including a new main building and a bi-level primary inspection booth for passenger and commercial vehicles.

However, service times will not change, with Coutts remaining as the province’s sole 24/7 border crossing.

Southeast Alberta CoC Executive Director, Lisa Dressler, said in regards to the upgrades, “We were really pleased when the federal government announced that they’ll be shovels in the ground this year. It’s been something we’ve been advocating for a couple of decades.”

In a statement provided by the CBSA to BCN, they say “Wild Horse, Alberta is already a designated customs office which provides service to commercial clients from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday (except holidays). Over the past two years – 2024 and 2025 – less than one truck per day entered Canada at this location, on average. The CBSA is not adjusting hours at the Wild Horse port of entry at this time.”

“The CBSA works in an operating environment that changes on a daily basis and we are ready to respond and adapt as needed. Should highway access to a high-volume port of entry be disrupted for any reason, the CBSA has the flexibility to temporarily extend the hours of service at an alternate port of entry and to temporarily redeploy officers there.”