While there has been very little hold-up at the Rainy River border crossing, the number of people crossing there is up by more than 30 percent over 1997.
Last year, some 100,578 Americans crossed into Canada at Rainy River’s port of entry. In 1997, only 75,535 crossed.
The numbers have steadily increased over the past few years. In 1998, 81,501 crossed and in 1999, some 91,715 crossed. The busiest months are still the summer ones, which traditionally have attracted the most tourists.
In June, 2000, the number of U.S. residents crossing into Canada at Rainy River jumped to nearly 16,000 from about 14,000 in 1999. But the number in July did drop slightly from about 16,250 in 1999 to around 16,000 in 2000.
Overall, though, the numbers are up for the entire year.
Geoff Gillon, of the Rainy River Future Development Corp., said while there is no concrete way to measure its full impact on the border stats, he felt the M.O.M.’s (Manitoba Ontario Minnesota) Way has helped increase those numbers.
M.O.M.’s Way has been very visible in the past couple of years with the erection of big signs on highways telling drivers there is another way to get from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg and vice-versa.
Another factor some business people have attributed the increase to is the low Canadian dollar.
Americans can get about $1.50 in Canadian money for every U.S. dollar they spend. And in many cases, goods are now the same price–or cheaper–in Canada.
That is quite a change from about a decade ago.
With the increase in Rainy River being at least partially attributable to the M.O.M.’s Way traffic, they have not had a huge impact on the Fort Frances border crossing stats.
In 2000, some 438,805 U.S. residents entered Canada there. That is up over the 1997 figure of 408,556 but down slightly from 1999, which saw 446,138 cross over.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
