New ‘Canadian Door’ for border library opens after Trump barred Canadians to enter from the U.S. side

Sylvie Boudreau, president of the board of trustees of the cross-border Haskell Library, poses for a picture standing on the black marker that indicates the US and Canada sides, inside the library. Photo by DAPHNE LEMELIN /AFP via Getty Images

Article content

The Haskell Free Library and Opera House on the Quebec-Vermont border opened its new Canadian entrance on Wednesday.

Article content

The new door opens to Stanstead, Que., while the existing door is in Derby Line, Vt. A black line runs across the floor inside the library to indicate the border between Canada and the U.S.

Article content

Article content

The building, which is more than a century old, has long been a symbol of harmony between Canada and the U.S. But the past eight months have been a different story, after the Trump administration ended a long-standing arrangement allowing Canadians to enter from the U.S. side.

Article content

Now, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House has officially opened its new “Canadian Door”, granting easy access to visitors on both sides of the border once more.

Article content

Why was Canadian access restricted?

Article content

In October 2025, U.S. authorities cancelled an arrangement that meant Canadians could use the existing entrance in Derby Line without passing through customs.

Article content

The decision had been announced in March that year, just two months after then Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem visited the library and referred to Canada as “the 51st state” when standing on the Stanstead side.

Article content

Article content

Article content

At the time of the decision, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement that the change was in response to drug trafficking.

Article content

Article content

“Drug traffickers and smugglers were exploiting the fact that Canadians could use the US entrance without going through customs. We are ending such exploitation by criminals and protecting Americans,” they said.

Article content

They did not provide evidence of drug trafficking or smuggling, though in 2018, a Quebec man named Alexis Vlachos was sentenced to 51 months in a U.S. prison for smuggling over 100 handguns from Vermont to Quebec, some of which were stashed in small backpacks inside the trash can of the Haskell Library bathroom.

Article content

A sign indicates the new entrance on the Canadian side of the cross-border Haskell Library in Stanstead, Quebec. Photo by DAPHNE LEMELIN /AFP via Getty Images

Article content

The library was not completely blindsided by the change, however. In an interview with National Post, Sylvie Boudreau, the president of the library’s board of trustees, said she had been expecting the news, following Noem’s visit.

Article content

“I had already looked into where we could put an entrance on the Canadian side,” she said.

Article content

It’s not the first time Canadian access to the library has been restricted, however, with tighter controls imposed following the attacks of September 11, 2001, and again during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Article content

Article content

How did the library adapt to the change in access?

Article content

Article content

Since October 2025, Canadians wishing to use the library’s main entrance have had to present themselves at a port of entry and go through U.S. customs.

Article content

A repurposed emergency exit was used as a temporary entrance on the Stanstead side by Canadians initially. But when construction started on the door, things became a little more complicated.

Article content

Signs are posted on the former emergency exit as it’s converted into the Canadian side entrance of the cross-border Haskell Library in Stanstead, Quebec. Photo by DAPHNE LEMELIN /AFP via Getty Images

Article content

“We had to use the tower, which has four flights of stairs, and after that you arrive at the Opera House, go back downstairs, go through the staff office to go into the library,” Boudreau told National Post.

Article content

Only library members and staff were permitted to enter the building directly from Canada, but exceptions were made for emergency personnel, people with disabilities, school groups, and some others.

Article content

How was the new entrance created?

Article content

The Canadian Door already existed as an emergency exit, but it needed a lot of work to turn it into a suitable entrance.

Article content

The Haskell Free Library and Opera House website provided updates on the Canadian Door project, beginning with the successful approval of architectural plans by both the Quebec and Vermont governments and Historic Preservation Societies.