Point Roberts, the cut-off U.S. town on B.C.'s border, wants Canadian workers

Businesses in the isolated U.S. border town of Point Roberts just south of Vancouver are calling on President Joe Biden to help them hire Canadians to fill a labour shortage.

Brian Calder, the president of the Point Roberts Chamber of Commerce, wrote an open letter urging the president and lawmakers to make an exception to U.S. work permit policies for Point Roberts. 

Point Roberts is part of Washington state but juts out from the Canadian mainland south of Vancouver and is only accessible by land via the Canadian border. 

Calder says while they've looked for American citizens from other parts of Washington state to come work, high rental costs and four daily border crossings are barriers. 

They say they hope their government will address their concerns and allow them to temporarily employ Canadians with work visas. 

"Point Roberts is unique … in North America. Well, where is the unique solution? Nothing," said Calder. 

'Orphan of the United States'

Dave Duncan, 62, lives in Blaine, Wash., but has worked in Point Roberts for 10 years. 

As the manager of Point Roberts International Marketplace, the only grocery store in town, Duncan goes through four border crossings a day to get to work

"It feels good working here. I feel like I'm making a difference in people's lives helping them," said Duncan, adding he was able to cross the border for work during the pandemic but was required to provide letters, additional forms, and complete ArriveCan every time. 

Duncan says before the pandemic, there were at least six other Americans who committed to the same commute. But now, he says, there's only two of them who travel from Blaine to Point Roberts. 

"The requirement is people that work here have to be either U.S. citizens or dual citizens, and we're kind of exhausting that pool of people," Duncan said.

"[There's] no real workforce left [here] because their jobs went away. Because so much of our business relies on people being able to get here, whether it's from Canada or from the rest of Washington."

Nick Kiniski, 62, had been in Point Roberts for over 35 years when he bought Kiniski's Reef Tavern, which is now the only remaining restaurant in town. 

While business has increased with other restaurants closing down, Kiniski says he doesn't have the staff to meet the demand, forcing him to reduce restaurant hours during both the tourist and off-season.

"By letting us hire Canadians,  what's the downside? I can't even run seven days a week. I got limited hours," he said, adding he'd love to hire Americans who want a job, but most aren't willing to commute. 

"There's no place for them to stay, and then in the wintertime, I go down to a ghost staff because it's so slow. I don't understand how [the government] expects us to be a viable business up here."

Kiniski says as people leave Point Roberts, cabins and homes are being listed as short-term rentals on Airbnb and Vrbo rather than being put up for rent.

He expands that this limits the staff he can call on for support, especially during the summer tourist season.

"It's just astronomical to stay here. So I have people stay in my house to help me out [during busy times] … like on long weekends." 

Calder says Canadians used to work in Point Roberts, but permission was rescinded by Homeland Security after 911. 

"No one challenged it [back then] because we had enough employees here … [The program] was straightforward and relatively easy, and we need it back again desperately," said Calder, adding he's frustrated by the empty promises politicians have made. 

"We're the orphan of the United States of America … [Politicians] say … we're going to be defined by how we treat our most vulnerable and our weakest. But we're in that category now. So where is the help?"