Raymond / Regway POE Loses USDA Vet Staff: Reroute Livestock Shipments Now

USDA APHIS no longer has veterinary inspection capacity at the Raymond, Montana / Regway, Saskatchewan port of entry. CFIA got the notice. If you’re moving cattle, hogs, horses, or any livestock that needs USDA veterinary clearance southbound, scratch Raymond / Regway off your routing list until further notice.

The operational piece: livestock shipments requiring USDA APHIS veterinary inspection or pre-booked appointments need to cross at North Portal, Saskatchewan or Coutts, Alberta instead. That’s a routing shift, not a regulatory change. The rules didn’t move. The vet did.

What This Means for Export Filers

Canadian livestock exporters rely on predictable vet availability at crossing points. USDA APHIS inspection is mandatory for most live animal shipments entering the US, and that inspection happens at the POE. No vet on duty means no legal crossing for animals requiring that clearance.

Raymond / Regway is a small POE serving southern Saskatchewan and northern Montana agricultural traffic. It’s not a major livestock gateway like Coutts, but it serves local ranching operations that were using it for convenience. Those operations now face longer haul distances to reach an alternative crossing with vet staff.

The notice from USDA APHIS cites “veterinary recruitment difficulties.” That’s federal hiring lag, not a temporary closure for maintenance. There’s no published timeline for restoration. CFIA passed the message along because Canadian exporters and brokers need to know which POEs are operationally viable for livestock before dispatch.

Routing Impact

North Portal and Coutts are the designated alternatives. Both have established USDA APHIS veterinary inspection infrastructure and staffing.

North Portal (Saskatchewan / North Dakota border) serves central and eastern Saskatchewan livestock traffic. It’s a busier crossing than Raymond and has consistent vet coverage.

Coutts (Alberta / Montana border) is the major livestock gateway for Alberta and western Saskatchewan. High-volume cattle and hog exports cross there daily. USDA vet appointments are routine, but advance booking is necessary during peak export season.

The reroute adds road time and fuel cost for exporters previously using Raymond / Regway. A rancher in southern Saskatchewan now faces an extra 200–300 km round trip to reach North Portal or Coutts, depending on origin. That’s not trivial for a livestock hauler on a tight margin, but it’s cheaper than arriving at Raymond with a truckload of cattle and no USDA clearance available.

This is a client communication issue for brokers. Exporters who’ve been using Raymond / Regway as their default crossing need advance notice to adjust logistics. The last thing anyone wants is a truck showing up at a closed vet station with live animals on board.

CFIA and USDA APHIS Coordination

CFIA doesn’t control USDA staffing, but the two agencies coordinate on cross-border animal movement. Canadian export certificates often reference USDA entry requirements, and CFIA inspectors verify compliance with those requirements before livestock leaves Canada.

When USDA loses vet capacity at a POE, CFIA needs to know so they can advise Canadian exporters. The notice in the CSCB digest is that advice filtering through to the brokerage and compliance community.

Live animal exports are a small fraction of total Canada–US trade volume, but they’re operationally sensitive. Livestock can’t sit in a truck waiting for a vet appointment to materialize. The shipment either crosses with inspection or it doesn’t cross at all. Rerouting in transit isn’t practical. The routing decision has to happen before dispatch.

That makes advance POE planning critical. Brokers filing export documentation need to confirm vet availability at the planned crossing before the truck rolls. USDA APHIS appointment systems exist for this reason, but they’re only useful if the POE actually has a vet to honor the appointment.

What Brokers Should Tell Clients

If you have livestock exporter clients using Raymond / Regway, flag this immediately. The crossing is off the board for any shipment requiring USDA veterinary inspection until USDA APHIS restores staffing.

Confirm alternative routing with the client before filing export docs. North Portal and Coutts are the named alternatives in the CFIA notice. Both are operational, but appointment availability varies by season. Peak cattle export periods (fall weaning season, spring turnout) see heavier vet appointment demand at major crossings like Coutts.

If the client is staging livestock near the border before crossing, warehouse or holding facility location may need adjustment. A pre-border staging operation set up near Raymond / Regway for proximity advantage now loses that advantage. Freight coordination and cross-border timing become more complex when the planned POE changes mid-logistics cycle.

For exporters with recurring shipments, this isn’t a one-time reroute. Every subsequent livestock shipment will need the new routing until USDA APHIS announces vet staff restoration at Raymond. That could be months. Treat this as a standing operational change, not a temporary detour.

CFIA’s notice points to the full Canadian export certificate requirements at https://inspection.canada.ca/en. USDA APHIS requirements sit on the US side, but Canadian brokers still need to track them because our clients’ shipments don’t cross without meeting both.

Cost and Timing Fallout

Longer haul distance means higher transport cost. Livestock haulers typically bill by loaded mile or per-head rate. That’s the exporter’s problem, not the broker’s, but it’s a cost increase we need to surface when advising on routing.

Timing shifts slightly. A Raymond / Regway crossing that was a 90-minute drive from a Saskatchewan ranch might now be a 3.5-hour drive to North Portal. That changes departure time for same-day crossing windows and may push some shipments to next-day logistics.

USDA vet appointments at busier crossings like Coutts sometimes book 48–72 hours out during peak season. Raymond / Regway had lower traffic and often allowed same-day or next-day appointments. Exporters lose that flexibility when forced to reroute to a higher-volume POE.

None of this is catastrophic, but it’s friction. The rancher’s margin shrinks. The broker’s job is to flag the change early enough that the client can adjust logistics and pricing before the truck leaves the yard.

If your client is moving live animals southbound and Raymond / Regway was in the plan, reroute now. North Portal or Coutts. Confirm vet appointment availability. Adjust transport quotes. File export docs with the correct POE. Talk through cross-border coordination with us.

Source: CSCB