Eastern Ontario border crossings remained open after a vehicle explosion at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls closed crossings in southern Ontario.
All border crossings in the Niagara region were closed Wednesday afternoon in the immediate aftermath; however, all but the Rainbow Bridge have since reopened.
There are three border crossings in eastern Ontario: Cornwall, the Thousand Islands Bridge in Alexandria, and the Prescott-Ogdensburg bridge. None experienced any major delays outside of the Thousand Islands Bridge, which had higher than normal volumes since before the incident, likely because of American Thanksigiving-related travel.
Border crossings between Canada and the United States in eastern Ontario.
Wait times for eastern Ontario border crossings into the United States from Canada as of 5 p.m. Wednesday
Massena/Cornwall: 0 minutes
Alexandria/Thousand Islands Bridge: 20 minutes
Prescott/Ogdensburg: 0 minutes
Wait times for eastern Ontario border crossings into Canada from the United States as of 5 p.m. Wednesday
Massena/Cornwall: No delays
Alexandria/Thousand Islands Bridge: 10 minutes
Prescott/Ogdensburg: No delays
In a statement issued just after 1 p.m. Wednesday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Buffalo field office said it was investigating the explosion, which took place on the U.S. side of the border.
Ottawa police said they were closely monitoring the situation as it unfolded and had no planned changes to operations at this time. The RCMP said it was working with international and domestic partners but declined to offer further comment.
There were no reported impacts for travellers at the Ottawa Airport. The airport in Buffalo, N.Y. briefly closed but it has also since reopened.
Canadian officials were operating under the assumption that the Rainbow Bridge explosion is terror-related, but New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday afternoon that “there is no evidence at this time that it was a terrorist activity.”
With files from CTV News’ Abby O’Brien