The Peace Arch is the third-busiest passenger-vehicle land border crossing in North America and the busiest on the entire US-Canada border for passenger cars (not counting the truck-heavy Detroit-Windsor and Buffalo-Niagara crossings). It's the most direct route between Seattle and Vancouver, sees up to 4,800 vehicles per day, and on a holiday Sunday can have a 4-hour wait. This guide covers the crossing itself plus the three workarounds (Pacific Highway, Sumas, Lynden) that locals use when Peace Arch is jammed.
The 30-second answer
- Use Peace Arch for: Cars and passenger vans only. No commercial vehicles, no buses, no RVs over a certain size.
- Use Pacific Highway (1 mi east) for: Trucks, RVs, buses, and anything Peace Arch turns away.
- Best time: Weekday 4-7 a.m. either direction. Effectively zero wait.
- Worst time: Sunday afternoon southbound; Saturday morning northbound. 2-4 hour waits are normal; 4+ hours on holiday weekends.
- NEXUS: Dedicated lanes in both directions typically cut wait times by 70-90% at peak. Worth applying if you cross more than twice a year.
- Fallback: If Peace Arch is over 60 minutes, Pacific Highway is often 15-30. Sumas further east often has the shortest wait of any WA crossing.
Where it is
The Peace Arch crossing connects Blaine, Washington (the southern terminus of Interstate 5) to Surrey, British Columbia (where I-5 becomes BC Highway 99 / King George Boulevard). The two facilities sit on either side of Peace Arch Park, a binational park surrounding the eponymous monument — a 30-meter white concrete arch erected in 1921 celebrating US-Canada peace.
The arch itself is unusual: it sits on the international boundary, and the park around it is open to anyone without going through customs (as long as you stay in the park and return to the side you entered from).
The crossing has been operating since 1891 as a rail border station and as a vehicle crossing for over a century. The current Canadian facility opened in 2009; the US facility opened in 2010.
Who can use Peace Arch (and who can't)
Peace Arch is passenger-only:
- Passenger cars: ✓
- Light SUVs and vans: ✓
- Pickup trucks for personal use: ✓
- RVs and motorhomes: Usually no — directed to Pacific Highway.
- Commercial trucks: Prohibited.
- Buses: Prohibited.
- Anyone hauling goods for commercial sale: Prohibited.
If you're towing a trailer, hauling something commercial, or driving anything bigger than a typical RV, take Pacific Highway instead (see below).
Lane structure
Peace Arch has roughly:
- 10 northbound lanes (CBSA-side, into Canada), of which 2-3 are NEXUS at peak times.
- 10-12 southbound lanes (CBP-side, into US), with 2-3 NEXUS lanes.
- Ready Lane on the US side — accepts RFID-enabled documents (Passport Card, EDL from WA/MI/NY/MN/VT, SENTRI card). Typically 30-50% faster than standard at peak.
Lane assignments shift during the day. The signs at the approach and the live wait page are the source of truth.
Peace Arch vs Pacific Highway
One mile east of Peace Arch is the Pacific Highway crossing, also in Blaine. It's the truck-and-RV equivalent of Peace Arch on the same I-5 corridor. Most travelers don't know the two crossings are different — they often appear as one entry on apps and maps.
Differences that matter:
| Peace Arch | Pacific Highway | |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicles allowed | Passenger only | All including trucks, buses, RVs |
| Typical peak wait | 1-4 hours | 20 min - 2 hours |
| Off-peak wait | 0-15 min | 5-20 min |
| NEXUS lane | Yes | Yes |
| Highway | I-5 / Hwy 99 | SR 543 / Hwy 15 (1 mile parallel) |
In practice, Peace Arch backs up first because it carries all the passenger traffic; Pacific Highway often has 30-60 minutes shorter waits during the same Sunday afternoon. The detour is genuinely small — 2 minutes off I-5 and back on. Watch our embedded WSDOT and DriveBC cameras on each detail page to see which line is actually shorter in real time.
Best and worst times
Best
- Weekday 4-7 a.m. in either direction. Usually drive-through, no wait.
- Weekday 9 p.m.-midnight in either direction. Light volume.
- Tuesday or Wednesday at any hour is generally the least-loaded day.
Worst
- Sunday southbound (Canada → US) 1 p.m.-9 p.m. Vancouverites returning home. 2-4 hour waits typical, 4+ on holiday Sundays (Victoria Day, Canada Day, US Thanksgiving, Christmas).
- Saturday northbound (US → Canada) 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Seattle weekenders heading to Vancouver. 1-3 hour waits.
- Friday 3-8 p.m. in both directions — pre-weekend exodus stacks with afternoon commuter traffic.
Holiday surges
- US Thanksgiving weekend — Wednesday southbound and the Sunday after are both heavy.
- Canadian Thanksgiving (October 2nd Monday) — Heavy northbound on Saturday, heavy southbound Monday.
- Christmas / New Year week — Both directions loaded December 23-26 and December 31 - January 2.
- Victoria Day long weekend (late May) — One of the worst weekends of the year.
- Independence Day weekend — Canadians heading to US for the holiday, returning Sunday/Monday.
NEXUS at Peace Arch
Peace Arch is one of the best crossings on the entire US-Canada border for justifying a NEXUS application. The wait gap between Standard and NEXUS routinely hits 2-3 hours at peak Sunday afternoon. NEXUS members regularly cross in under 10 minutes when the standard lanes are at 3 hours.
Note that all occupants of the vehicle need NEXUS cards. One non-member passenger and the whole vehicle uses the standard lane. See our application guide for the full process.
Alternates when Peace Arch is jammed
| Crossing | Distance from Peace Arch | Typical advantage |
|---|---|---|
| Pacific Highway | 1 mile east | 30-60 min faster at peak; takes trucks and RVs |
| Sumas | 30 miles east | Often shortest WA-BC wait, but 30+ min extra drive |
| Lynden / Aldergrove | 16 miles east | Limited hours (8 a.m.-midnight) but usually fast |
| Point Roberts | Detour-only | WA exclave accessible only via Canada — useful only if you're already there. |
Rule of thumb: if Peace Arch is over 90 minutes, the savings from taking Pacific Highway or Sumas usually exceed the extra drive time. Pull up the wait times for each on the homepage before you commit.
Peace Arch Park (the visit-without-crossing option)
Unusual feature: Peace Arch Park itself is a binational park open to people without crossing the border. A Canadian and an American can meet inside the park to picnic, talk, or hang out — as long as both stay in the park and return to their respective sides. This was widely used during COVID border closures when families couldn't otherwise visit each other.
US-side access is via the Peace Arch State Park entrance in Blaine; Canadian-side access is via Peace Arch Provincial Park in Surrey. Both have parking. No documents needed to enter the park itself — but if you leave the park on the other side, you'll go through full customs to get back.
Practical tips
- Check both Peace Arch and Pacific Highway before committing. Both have embedded cameras on their detail pages — sometimes the visible queue tells you more than the reported number.
- If you have a Costco card / Trader Joe's in mind, plan to cross northbound on a weekday morning, not weekend. The Saturday Costco run is the textbook bad-timing crossing.
- Bring USD even if you live in BC. Most border-zone businesses accept both currencies, but cash USD is universally accepted and often gets you a slight premium.
- Don't bring cannabis across, including from Canadian-legal sources back into the US. Federal border, federal law — see our declarations guide.
- If you have toll roads ahead (the Tsawwassen ferry, the Coquihalla, the Port Mann Bridge), pre-pay or set up BC's tag system — paper toll booths back up the queue further.
Bottom line
Peace Arch is fast in the early morning and dramatically slow on weekend afternoons. NEXUS turns "dramatically slow" into "5 minutes." When the standard line is over an hour, the Pacific Highway crossing one mile east is almost always faster. And the park is a quirky bonus if you have friends on the other side and don't actually want to cross.
See live waits and cameras at Peace Arch on Don't Wait, and compare side-by-side with Pacific Highway before you commit to a lane.