Windsor-Detroit traffic increasing after ArriveCAN dropped by federal government

Representatives from the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel say the removal of the ArriveCAN app as a mandatory border measure has increased non-commercial traffic into Canada.

The ArriveCAN app requirement was lifted on Oct. 1 as part of a decision signed off on by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to end COVID-19 pandemic border measures.

According to an emailed statement from Randy Spader, vice-president of operations with the Detroit International Bridge Co., in the period since the requirement was lifted, the number of vehicles crossing into Canada via the Ambassador Bridge has risen by nine per cent compared with September.

The tunnel has also seen a slight increase during the same time period.

"Since the removal of ArriveCAN on Oct. 1, our weekday traffic has increased by six per cent, or an average of 550 vehicles per day, compared to September 2022," said Carolyn Brown, CEO of Windsor Detroit Borderlink Ltd. "Our weekend traffic has increased by 1,100 vehicles per day, or 14 per cent."

The removal of the app requirement came after a strong push from business groups and politicians in border cities, including Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens.

They argued that COVID-19 measures like the app requirement were negatively affecting tourism and local economies, and that eliminating the barriers would allow their communities to recover from the pandemic.

Though there's been an increase in non-commercial traffic into Canada from the United States, it is still not at the levels seen before the pandemic, which began in early 2020.

"Our passenger vehicle traffic is still approximately 50 per cent of what it was pre-pandemic," said the statement from Spader.

The tunnel has fared better in terms of overall percentages since the ArriveCAN requirement was lifted, but it has also yet to reach pre-pandemic traffic levels.

"We've recovered about 82 per cent of our traffic, and clearly that is due in no small part to the lifting of the ArriveCAN requirements," Brown said. "Total traffic from Oct. 1 to Nov. 30, 2022, was 583,676 vehicles, and I'm talking about going both ways. Compared to 2019 for that same time period, we did 712,000 vehicles."

Returning to pre-pandemic levels

Spader said he believes that the return to pre-pandemic traffic levels can be achieved with the help of federal governments in both Canada and the U.S.

"The U.S. still requires all non-U.S. visitors to be vaccinated before crossing the border into the U.S.," his statement read.

"We need the Canadian government to modify and improve Huron-Church [Road] traffic flow through this corridor and we need both governments to engage and invest in tourism and advertisement to encourage cross-border recreational travel."

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) was unable to provide statistics for individual border crossings, but weekly statistics collected by the CBSA show that non-commercial traffic at land borders across the entire Canada-U.S. border was down compared with September.

October saw a roughly 1.8 per cent decrease in traffic compared with September, and November experienced a larger drop compared with September, with about 12.3 per cent fewer vehicles crossing the border.