LACOLLE, Que. — One of Canada’s busiest border crossings will soon get a facelift, courtesy of the federal government.

The Government of Canada will commit $10 million to expand the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) facilities at the Lacolle-Champlain border crossing, joining Quebec with New York state and the U.S. northeast, one of the 10 busiest Canada-United States border crossings.

Funded through the Gateways and Border Crossings Fund, the project consists primarily of the expansion of commercial truck and bus processing facilities. The project is designed to improve border infrastructure along the Canadian side of the corridor, enhance safety, and relieve traffic congestion.

“This particular investment will provide Border Services Officers with a state of the art facility at Quebec’s busiest border crossing,” said Jean-Pierre Fortin, Customs Excise Union’s 1st National vice president. “This will improve the flow of legitimate commercial and traveller volumes, thus providing officers with a safer work environment, allowing them to direct more attention on high-risk individuals and goods.”

Lacolle is the sixth-busiest Canada-U.S. commercial border crossing. In 2006, Lacolle accounted for approximately 735,000 commercial vehicle crossings (398,000 to the U.S. and 337,000 to Canada), and approximately 2,000 commercial vehicles per day.

Guided by the National Policy Framework for Strategic Gateways and Trade Corridors, investments under the Gateways and Border Crossings Fund are designed to improve the flow of goods between Canada and the rest of the world. This merit-based fund aims to enhance infrastructure at key locations, such as major border crossings between Canada and the U.S.