> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.northernmilemedia.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Canada US border wait times: where trucks waited this week
- URL: https://www.northernmilemedia.com/canada-us-border-wait-times-week/
- Published: 2026-09-28T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-28T06:01:41.000Z
- Description: Peace Bridge ran 13 minutes while five crossings stayed clear. Canada US border wait times this week, plus diesel at 268.5 cents and the loonie at 1.4145.
- Author: Northern Mile Media
- Tags: Canadian Trucking, Border Wait Times, Diesel Prices, Cross Border, CBSA

Peace Bridge ran 13 minutes this week. That is the longest commercial wait at any crossing the Canada Border Services Agency reported, and it is the one number below that would move a routing decision.

Canada US border wait times sat quiet everywhere else. Ambassador Bridge, Blue Water Bridge, Lacolle, Coutts-Sweetgrass and Emerson-Pembina all reported clear. Queenston-Lewiston ran 7 minutes. Pacific Highway ran 5.

## Canada US border wait times, crossing by crossing

![Current commercial wait times at CBSA-reported crossings.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c4/76/c476aa94-d18a-4e60-a7a9-d463d9af9e17/content/images/size/w720/format/webp/2026/09/border-rank-8.png)

*Current commercial wait times at CBSA-reported crossings.*

Nine crossings are tracked on the dashboard. Three of them carry a delay this week.

| Crossing                  | Commercial wait |
| ------------------------- | --------------- |
| Peace Bridge              | 13 min          |
| Queenston-Lewiston Bridge | 7 min           |
| Pacific Highway Crossing  | 5 min           |

Source: Canada Border Services Agency border wait times, current readings.

Thirteen minutes will not sink a load. It is a rounding error against a bad Tuesday at a congested port. It matters at the margin all the same. It is the difference between making a delivery window and calling ahead to move it, and it is the reason to check the [Peace Bridge board](https://dashboard.northernmilemedia.com/border-wait-times/peace-bridge/?ref=northernmilemedia.com) before a pickup time gets set rather than after.

The rest of the border is the real story. Five clear crossings and three small delays is a good week, and good weeks are exactly when schedules get built on the assumption that nothing will move. The [border trends page](https://dashboard.northernmilemedia.com/border-trends/?ref=northernmilemedia.com) keeps those readings over time if you want to compare a quiet week against the ones that were not.

## Diesel held at 268.5 cents with an 80.4 cent spread

Natural Resources Canada printed the national diesel average at 268.5 cents a litre on September 22\. Quebec sits highest at 294.3\. The Northwest Territories sits lowest at 213.9\. The gap between those two is 80.4 cents a litre.

| Market                    | Diesel, cents per litre |
| ------------------------- | ----------------------- |
| National average          | 268.5                   |
| Quebec                    | 294.3                   |
| British Columbia          | 280.6                   |
| New Brunswick             | 273.5                   |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 273.0                   |
| Prince Edward Island      | 273.0                   |
| Yukon                     | 269.9                   |
| Nova Scotia               | 268.7                   |
| Manitoba                  | 261.5                   |
| Ontario                   | 255.7                   |
| Saskatchewan              | 252.6                   |
| Alberta                   | 251.8                   |
| Northwest Territories     | 213.9                   |

Source: Natural Resources Canada weekly diesel survey, printed September 22.

![Provincial diesel prices against the national index, per the NRCan weekly survey.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c4/76/c476aa94-d18a-4e60-a7a9-d463d9af9e17/content/images/size/w720/format/webp/2026/09/provincial-spread-8.png)

*Provincial diesel prices against the national index, per the NRCan weekly survey.*

The national average is the headline. The spread is the part a fleet can act on. A carrier running Ontario into Quebec buys at 255.7 on one side of the line and 294.3 on the other. A carrier fuelling in Alberta buys at 251.8\. The [Quebec page](https://dashboard.northernmilemedia.com/diesel-prices/quebec/?ref=northernmilemedia.com) breaks out the cities inside the most expensive province, and the national [fuel prices hub](https://dashboard.northernmilemedia.com/fuel-prices/?ref=northernmilemedia.com) carries the rest.

## The loonie at 1.4145

The Bank of Canada had CAD/USD at 1.4145 on September 25, with the loonie weakening 0.06 percent. Diesel is priced in US dollars on the wholesale market and bought with Canadian dollars. A weaker loonie raises the Canadian cost of the same barrel even when the barrel itself has not moved.

![The Canadian dollar against the US dollar, recent observations.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c4/76/c476aa94-d18a-4e60-a7a9-d463d9af9e17/content/images/size/w720/format/webp/2026/09/fx-trend-8.png)

*The Canadian dollar against the US dollar, recent observations.*

A 0.06 percent move is noise on its own, and it should be treated as noise. The level is the part that compounds across a year of fuel spend. A rate near 1.41 means every US dollar purchase takes more out of the account than it did at a stronger loonie.

The US Energy Information Administration has US diesel at $6.529 a gallon in its latest reading. That is the figure a counterpart south of the line is working from when a rate gets discussed, and it is why a cross-border lane never lines up neatly against a Canadian cost sheet.

## What to do with this

Fuel where the spread favours you. The 80.4 cent gap between 294.3 in Quebec and 213.9 in the Northwest Territories is the widest lever on the board this week, and it is a routing question rather than a negotiation.

Check the border board before you commit to a pickup time. Thirteen minutes on the Peace Bridge is manageable. The point is that you knew before you left the yard.

Watch the level, not the tick. A 0.06 percent currency move is not a signal.

## Where this leaves the week

Canada US border wait times were the quiet part of this week and the diesel spread was the loud part. Neither number is urgent. Both are published, which means neither is a surprise you have to absorb after the fact.

Run your own lanes through the dashboard and see what the spread does to your numbers. The [fuel cost calculator](https://dashboard.northernmilemedia.com/fuel-cost-calculator/?ref=northernmilemedia.com) takes your kilometres and your consumption and shows the answer for your routes.

---

Sources: Natural Resources Canada weekly diesel survey, Bank of Canada (Valet API), Canada Border Services Agency border wait times, US Energy Information Administration. Methodology and data notes are published at https://dashboard.northernmilemedia.com/methodology/nmdi/.