One of Canada’s least busy border crossings is now staying open 24 hours per day, thanks to automation.

People who drive up to the border crossing between St-Armand, Que., and Morses Line, Vt., during the hours of 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. are now met only by machines.

Drivers can scan their passports and communicate through a microphone with a Canadian Border Services Agency employee who is about 700 kilometres away, in Hamilton, Ont.

The distant agent can then use cameras to zoom into details of the vehicle and decide whether or not to open the heavy-duty gates.

If a closer inspection is ordered, agents are dispatched to the site from the nearest staffed border station -- a 15-minute drive away.

CBSA says the $16-million technology will allow it to afford to keep the crossing open at all hours, despite the fact that it gets only gets about 50 crossings during a typical 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift.

If the pilot project is successful, the technology could spread to other slow crossings.

Jean-Pierre Fortin, President of the Customs of Immigration Union, said he hopes that doesn’t happen. He said machines are no replacement for humans.

“Let’s say there’s an outstanding warrant and we’re saying, ‘Wait for us, we’ll be there in about half an hour to pick you up,’” Fortin said. “In a lot of cases, we’re afraid that the person can get away very easily.”

While the vehicle would be trapped in the automated crossing, the human could escape, according to Fortin.

Fortin said he also has concerns about what happens if intoxicated drivers show up at the border. “How is the person in Hamilton going to be able to detect that?”

With a report from CTV National’s Vanessa Lee