When the Gordie Howe International Bridge opens, officers with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will have the latest large-scale imaging technology available to them.
A permanent on site imaging facility has been built at Gordie Howe to scan all types of vehicles from commercial trucks, RVs, cars and boats, making it easier to spot illegal goods.
Speaking on AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides, CBSA superintendent and regional recruiter Stephanie Robichaud, said this is a non-intrusive inspection tool where vehicles can drive right through.
"We can just fire trucks through, we can fire cars through, we can fire boats, whatever it is, and we use large-scale imaging technology and training and support. The officers can take a look through like a large x-ray for the goods that are entering Canada. It's a lot faster, it uses a lot fewer resources, and it doesn't hold up traffic," she said.
Robichaud said for now this process will be different than what's currently done at the Ambassador Bridge.
"You would have to back up to a dock, there would be a forklift, you would have to offload everything, inspect everything after it was offloaded, and then get everything back onto the truck. So this is kind of more of a one stop shop," said Robichaud.
She said this is just one of the tools officers will have at their disposal.
"They're trained on things like information gathering, they have intelligence, they have other indicators that they're looking for and this is just part of the training that they have when they're going through all of the different detection tools and technologies," she said.
Robichaud said the imaging technology is also expected to be installed at the Ambassador Bridge.
Officials with the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority previously said the Gordie Howe Bridge was expected to open in early 2026.