Marine Container Examination Facility celebrates new opening in Halifax

The Port of Halifax has a new marine container examination facility.

The new Africville Seasides Marine Container Examination Facility (MCEF) celebrated its official opening in Halifax on Wednesday.

The construction of the facility, which began in summer 2022, finished in April 2025. Operations started on April 7.

Benefits of the new facility include:

• improves the efficiency, safety, security and operations for Canada Border Services (CBSA) employees
• reduces port congestion through operational efficiencies
• allows continued growth for the Halifax Port Authority
• increases supply chain effectiveness
• enables Canadian businesses to compete and grow in international markets
• reduces container truck traffic and emissions as the new MCEF is located directly on Port of Halifax property

The 2,700 square-metre facility, located on the Bedford Basin, is operated by the Halifax Port Authority and is used by the CBSA.

“This is indicative of an investment to ensure the health, safety, and security of Canadians and our communities across the country,” said Jennifer Lutfallah, CBSA Commercial and Trade Branch vice president.

The CBSA has 10 examination bays for officers to examine high-risk shipping containers.

“Large quantities of drugs and stolen vehicles are regularly intercepted by border services officers,” a release from the CBSA said.

“From March 1, 2024, to July 1, 2025, CBSA officers at the Marine Container Examination Facility intercepted 189 stolen vehicles, 1957kg of cannabis leaving Canada, and $208M worth of narcotics,” a release from Darren Fisher, member of Parliament for Dartmouth-Cole Harbour, said.

Previously, high risk containers were trucked across the McKay Bridge to the CBSA facility in Dartmouth for inspection, now they can be examined on site. The large scale imaging truck adds to the efficiency of the facility.

“It allows us to scan something that maybe it’s too large to take off and put it through one of our smaller x-rays. We can also get through a lot of containers in say the run of a day,” said CBSA officer Kevin Melvin

The Halifax Port Authority along with the Government of Canada spent around $25 million on the facility. Transport Canada funded $7 million towards the project under the National Trade Corridors Fund. The CBSA invested $879,000 for CCTV hardware and installation.

“We owe it to Canadians to make sure our borders are safe more so than we owe it to the president of the United States, but we do have to be good neighbours as well,” said Fisher.

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