Minnesotans rejoice over partial reprieve for holders of Canadian remote border crossing permits

Minnesotans who have a special permit to work, play or spend summers just north of the Ontario border may continue to cross the line in remote areas throughout 2025, even if their permits recently expired or are set to expire, Canada’s border service agency announced Tuesday.

The reprieve affects thousands of Minnesotans who rely on Canada issuing them remote area border crossing permits to fish, camp, vacation or spend time in family-owned cabins on the Canadian side of the border lakes region without having to report to a traditional port of entry.

The affected area includes parts of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, where it’s possible to paddle canoes into Ontario’s Quetico Provincial Park. It also affects border lakes just north of the Gunflint Trail and Minnesota’s Northwest Angle, which borders the Canadian waters of Lake of the Woods.

The change announced Tuesday eases restrictions imposed by Canada more than four months ago. Back then, effective Sept. 25, the Canada Border Services Agency stopped processing applications for new permits or renewals. Each permit lasts 365 days. If a person’s annual permit had expired before Sept. 25, there was no way to get a new one because the system is paused while under review.

In a partial reversal, the agency said Tuesday it is extending — effective immediately — the validity of any remote area border crossing permit issued after Sept. 1, 2023. Even if a permit recently expired, it is now good until Dec. 31, 2025, said Luke Reimer, a spokesman for the Canada Border Services Agency.

Reimer declined to explain why Canada changed its policy. He said the remote crossing permit program remains under review because the border agency “regularly assesses its programs to respond to current service needs and evolving trends, while ensuring the safety, security and prosperity of Canada.”

Reimer said the agency is still accepting applications for permits but is not yet processing them. Travelers wishing to enter Canada who do not hold a valid permit must present themselves at an open port of entry such as on roads at International Falls, Pigeon River or Baudette, he said.

Donny Sorlie, a Minnesotan who owns the Chippewa Inn resort on the Canadian side of Saganaga Lake, said he received a reservation 30 minutes after the permit reprieve was announced. The customer’s remote crossing permit had expired but is now good through the rest of the year.

Without such a permit, it’s not impossible for Americans to get to Chippewa Inn, but hardly anyone makes a reservation unless they can launch from Minnesota’s Gunflint Trail for a seven-mile boat ride to the resort, Sorlie said. Entering Canada by road, across the Pigeon River port of entry north of Grand Portage, would add multiple hours of travel by automobile, boat or snowmobile.

“I’m happy,” Sorlie said. “This is a big relief because some of my customers were ready to book their summer vacations somewhere else.”

Darin Fagerman, who lives outside Grand Marais and owns a cabin on the Canadian side of Saganaga Lake, also welcomed the extension. His crossing permit expired at the end of January. Without it, he must cross at Pigeon River and then trek westward through the Canadian backcountry using a vehicle, boat or snowmobile in a four-hour process. With the permit, he can drive to the end of the Gunflint Trail and boat or snowmobile to the cabin in less than two hours.

“This is a positive move on Canada’s part,” he said.

Both Fagerman and Sorlie said Minnesotans who rely on the remote area crossing permits still need to know what will become of the system when Canada’s review is completed. Sorlie said he thinks the government is attempting to create an app to replace what is now a paper permit system.

They are both hoping a new, permanent system is in place by the end of this year.

“For us, it’s a good deal for now, but we’re still nervous about the future,” Fagerman said.

Reimer, of the border services agency, declined to answer any questions about the ongoing review.