Why the Border Runs Through a Canadian Peninsula
The peninsula was named by British navigator George Vancouver in 1792, after a fellow officer, Captain Henry Roberts, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. Settlement began around 1858 during the Fraser River gold rush. The border problem came later: when the United States and Britain fixed the 49th parallel as the boundary in 1846, the line sliced across the southern tip of the Tsawwassen Peninsula, leaving this small piece of land attached to Canada by geography but assigned to the United States by treaty. Everything north of that line, including the rest of the peninsula, stayed Canadian.
Is Point Roberts part of Canada?
No. It is U.S. sovereign territory, a census-designated place in Whatcom County, Washington, governed under Washington State law. Its only connection to Canada is geographic: land access requires crossing Canadian territory first.
Getting There: Your Access Options
| Route | What it involves | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Drive through British Columbia | About 25 miles from Bellingham through two border crossings, entering Canada then re-entering the U.S. at the Point Roberts port of entry | Nearly everyone; day-trippers and residents alike |
| Private boat | Crossing Boundary Bay or the Strait of Georgia, with a U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrival report required | Boat owners in summer months |
| Private aircraft | Landing at the small county-owned airstrip, then clearing customs on arrival | Pilots with their own plane |
| Passenger ferry | A twice-weekly foot-ferry to Bellingham ran only during the 2020–2021 pandemic border closure and is not a standing service today | No one currently; historical option only |
For almost every visitor, the 25-mile detour through Delta, B.C. is the only realistic way in, which means border policy and checkpoint wait times control access to Point Roberts far more than the short physical distance does.
Do I need a passport to enter Point Roberts by car?
Yes. Land entry into the U.S. requires a passport or another WHTI-compliant document such as an enhanced driver’s license, the same as at any other U.S.–Canada crossing. There is no exception for the final short leg into the exclave.
A Local Economy Now Running on About Half Its Old Traffic
Monthly crossing counts into Point Roberts show the scale of the pullback. Border Policy Research Institute data cited by the Cascadia Daily News found a 32% decline in vehicle passengers between 2019 and 2023, before the 2025 tariff dispute even began.
| Month | Crossings | Change vs. 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| August 2019 | 152,684 | baseline |
| August 2024 | 110,303 | down 28% |
| August 2025 | 90,410 | down 41% |
| April 2019 | 120,150 | baseline |
| April 2025 | about 61,000 | down 49% |
Figures compiled from Daily Hive Urbanized and the Delta Optimist. By former chamber of commerce president Brian Calder’s estimate, the community’s 2025 economic activity sat at roughly half of its pre-pandemic level, with the tariff dispute cutting a further fifth off whatever recovery had already happened since 2020.
The closures are concrete, not abstract. Point to Point Parcel, a packing and shipping business that had served Canadian customers for 24 years, shut its doors for good on April 19, 2025. At Kiniski’s Reef, one of just three restaurants still operating in town, owner Larry Musselwhite told The New Republic that profits fell by a third between 2024 and 2025, leaving him tending bar alone on weeknights for the first time in 38 years.
Why are so many businesses closing in Point Roberts right now?
Canadian shoppers, who normally supply about 90% of local retail traffic, sharply cut cross-border visits after 2025 tariffs and talk of U.S. annexation of Canada, on top of a customer base that had already dropped since 2020 pandemic border closures. Several businesses closed or relocated to nearby Delta, British Columbia as a direct result.
Cost of Living and Real Estate
Point Roberts’ median home value reached $522,397 in 2024, more than four times its 2000 value of $124,400, even as the town’s day-to-day retail economy shrank. Median household income rose to $77,851 in 2024 from $36,146 in 2000, and per-capita income reached $59,095, according to Census Bureau estimates compiled by City-Data.com. Mean prices vary by housing type: detached houses average $715,523, townhouses $566,464, and mobile homes $269,188.
Is it cheaper to live in Point Roberts than mainland Washington?
Not especially anymore. Housing costs now sit close to other Whatcom County communities, with that 2024 median value near $522,000. The draw for buyers is proximity to Vancouver and small-town life at that price, since bargain pricing largely disappeared as home values quadrupled since 2000.
What the Town Doesn’t Have
Point Roberts has no pharmacy, no resident doctor, no dentist, and no veterinarian, and its school stops at third grade. The nearest hospital is in Bellingham, roughly an hour’s drive away in ordinary traffic, on the other side of two international borders. Residents needing routine care typically cross into Delta or Tsawwassen instead, according to Daily Hive Urbanized.
The One School Serving the Whole Community
Point Roberts Primary teaches kindergarten through third grade to roughly 15 students, taught by one full-time teacher, as reported in a 2017 Bellingham Herald profile of the school. It operates as part of the Blaine School District, whose other buildings sit a 25-mile drive away, through Canada, from this one. Washington State classifies it as a “remote and necessary” school, a designation that keeps small, isolated schools open despite enrollment far below what would normally justify a standalone building.
What happens after third grade at Point Roberts Primary?
Students transfer to other Blaine School District buildings, meaning children make the same cross-border commute that many working adults in Point Roberts make every day.
Living on a Grid Supplied by Another Country
Point Roberts draws both its water and its electricity from British Columbia, supplied through Delta and Metro Vancouver infrastructure, an arrangement CBC News reports has left some residents worried a widening trade dispute could eventually reach utility bills, not only retail sales. No comparable Washington State utility connection exists.
Should You Visit, or Move There?
- Day-trippers: bring a passport or enhanced ID, expect variable wait times at both checkpoints, and check store hours in advance, since several businesses have cut hours or closed since 2025.
- Prospective buyers: home values have quadrupled since 2000, but the local economy is currently running at roughly half its pre-2020 activity, which affects everything from restaurant hours to contractor availability.
- Full-time movers, especially retirees: factor in the absence of a pharmacy, resident doctor, or dentist, and a school system that ends at third grade locally.
Could Point Roberts ever become part of Canada?
No formal process is underway. Some residents, including former Chamber of Commerce president Brian Calder, have floated ideas like joint international-park status or a governance transfer, but sovereignty stays with the United States unless Congress and Canada both agreed to change the treaty boundary, which has not happened.
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