Tariffs threaten cross-border family business where Canadians collect their U.S. packages

Tariffs are spelling uncertainty for a family business that allows Canadians to use its U.S. shipping address to receive packages from the States.

Halfway House Freight Forwarding is an aptly named parcel pick-up spot that sits halfway between the official Canada-U.S. border crossings in Dundee, Que., and Fort Covington, N.Y.

One red door leads to Canada, the other to the United States, and Canadians have been using it for decades to make purchases online from U.S. stores that don't ship across the border.

Canadian customers enter the property by driving along Chemin de Dundee Centre, a gravel road about 100 kilometres south of Montreal.

The main floor of the house is split down the middle by a black line, marking where Canada ends and the U.S. begins.

Customers can walk on either side of the line to pick up their packages, which are stacked high on handmade two-by-four shelves created by the Patenaude family.

"It was something back in the day, we had a lot of people here," said Louis Patenaude, who runs the business with his siblings. His father, Paul-Maurice, bought the building in the 1950s and moved his family there from Montreal's South Shore.

Paul-Maurice transformed the building from a hotel into a bar, which Patenaude says became a centre for the small cross-border community and tourists. His father eventually went on to become the mayor of Dundee and prefect of the MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent, before he died in 2022.

"We closed the bar in '90, and Dad was looking for something else to do. And friends were asking if they could use his American address to have products shipped and, you know, 'go ahead.' And then one thing led to another and they said 'you need to start a business.' And that's how it started," Patenaude said. 

The bar is still intact on the main floor. Beer bottles are stacked up on display gathering dust and business cards collected over the years decorate the walls between photos.

These days, the house is used only for parcels. Patenaude says they receive packages for businesses, such as car parts for mechanics, as well as personal items for everyday Quebecers who order for many different reasons.

"I ordered a small alpine Christmas tree and an electric bike that was on back order from Costco Canada," wrote Chantal Barabé to CBC on Facebook, who said she lives around Trois-Rivières, Que.

"Even though it's a four-hour drive, it's worth the trip."

With its unique location, Halfway House sits at the crossroads of key U.S.–Canada issues — from border security and currency fluctuations to tariffs and the survival of small businesses in the face of economic uncertainty.