Ogdensburg, NY UPS Store has 9,000 to 10,000 packages for Canadians waiting to be picked up when border reopens
The UPS Store in Ogdensburg, New York has thousands of packages addressed to residents in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario waiting for pick-up when the Canada-U.S. land border reopens next month.
A White House official says the U.S. will announce Friday that it will reopen its land borders to vaccinated non-essential visitors on Nov. 8.
With the border being closed to travellers for 19 months, some packages have been sitting at the UPS Store in Ogdensburg for nearly two years.
"There's at least between nine and 10,000 (packages)," said Orin Wing, manager of the UPS Store in Ogdensburg during an interview on CTV Morning Live.
"It's been continuing. We've had packages coming in the entire time, just nobody coming in the door from the Canadian side."
Wing says the freight section of the facility has been full since the start of the pandemic.
"We have packages still here from December 2019," said Wing Friday morning.
"We used to charge holding fees for packages – once a package is here longer than two weeks we charge $5 a week for those packages. But once the pandemic hit we understood that the Canadians weren't going to be able to come over and it's not their fault at all, so we waived all the holding fees for all our customers. We still got everything here."
Wing says businesses in Ogdensburg are "relieved" the border will soon be open for non-essential travellers.
"It has been tough for a lot of the community, a lot of restaurants have closed, a lot of people have lost their jobs, lot of people running short staffed," said Wing.
"The fact that it's happening right now, we're losing another business here by the end of the month, the fact that the Canadians are going to be able to come back over is going to help a lot of people over here on this side."
If you have a package to pick up at the UPS Store in Ogdensburg, Wing has some advice.
"They can either call us ahead of time and let us know if they've got more than one or two packages – just let us know the day they're going to be coming over, we can pull them ahead of time and we'll set them aside. It will make it a little bit easier for each of the customers when they come in."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Town of Fort Nelson, B.C., ordered to evacuate due to wildfire
The entire town of Fort Nelson, B.C., as well as the nearby Fort Nelson First Nation, has been ordered to evacuate due to an out-of-control wildfire.
Bouchard lifts Edmonton Oilers to 4-3 overtime win over Canucks in Game 2
Evan Bouchard scored 5:38 into overtime and the Edmonton Oilers bounced back for a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Friday.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Video shows naked raccoon catching B.C. family by surprise
When Marvin Henschel spotted a strange and hairless creature wandering through a front lawn in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, he could barely believe his eyes.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
Out-of-control wildfire prompts evacuation alert for Fort McMurray, Saprae Creek Estates Friday night
An evacuation alert was issued for two Wood Buffalo communities Friday night, as crews battled an out-of-control wildfire near Fort McMurray.