Southern Alberta pushes for 24-hour border crossing
Business groups and governments want Wild Horse crossing expanded. New facility coming, but without extended hours—yet.
Business leaders and officials in southern Alberta are pressing the federal government to turn the aging Wild Horse border crossing south of Medicine Hat into a second 24-hour commercial port of entry—easing congestion at the busy Coutts-Sweetgrass crossing 125 kilometres away.
The Canada Border Services Agency is demolishing and rebuilding the aging station next month as part of a general facilities upgrade. But critically, it's not currently planning to extend operating hours or expand inspection services—features that advocates say could unlock significant business activity in eastern Alberta and relieve pressure on the system.
"Having efficient, effective border access certainly has a business case for our region," said Lisa Dressler, executive director of the Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce. The chamber has been pushing this file since the mid-2000s, updating a resolution four times—most recently in 2023—with little to show for it.
Wild Horse currently opens at 8 a.m. year-round and closes at 5 p.m. in winter, 9 p.m. in summer. Those restricted hours force truckers arriving late to either drive two hours across southern Alberta or three hours across northern Montana to reach Coutts, the province's only 24-hour commercial crossing.
Premier Smith and Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed a joint letter to federal governments in late 2023 calling for 24-hour status at Wild Horse. Alberta's transportation work plan includes repaving Highway 41, which leads north from Wild Horse to Cold Lake. A 2017 study projected tonnage could increase more than 30-fold with expanded hours. The question now: will this summer's facility upgrade signal federal willingness to finally expand services, or just mark the status quo in new paint?