Preclearance in Canada: How it works and why it's important

Mar 16, 2015

In preclearance operations, border officers from the “inspecting country” (e.g., the U.S. or Canada) carry out customs and immigration inspections in the “host country” (e.g., Canada or the U.S.) before allowing goods or people into the inspecting country. For instance, in the rail mode, this could involve pre-clearing passengers and their luggage in Canada before passengers leave the train station, thereby avoiding a stop at the Canada/U.S. border.