WASHINGTON—Canadian drivers, truckers and train passengers might eventually get to clear U.S. customs from the comfort of their own country.

An agreement signed Monday would allow the U.S. to set up customs facilities on the Canadian side of road borders and at Canadian transportation hubs such as ports, train stations and bus depots.

“Pre-clearance” is already offered at eight Canadian airports, including Pearson. Its expansion to other locations could save tourists time and companies in both countries hundreds of millions of dollars.

Commercial trucks have been slowed by long post-9/11 lines at a customs choke point on the cramped American side of the bustling Peace Bridge between Ontario and New York. Pre-clearance on the roomier Canadian side could speed up the crawl.

“If we were building that (customs) plaza today, it wouldn’t be built that way, and we would go somewhere where there’s a lot more land. Unfortunately, that doesn’t exist. But there is the capacity on the Canadian side,” said David Bradley, president of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, which had pushed for a pre-clearance deal. “There may be some other border crossings like that. It’s not going to be at every crossing.”

Canadian Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson described the agreement as “historic” at their signing ceremony in Washington. But it is not yet final: the changes will only take effect if new legislation is passed both by Parliament and by the U.S. Congress.

“There is still a lot of work ahead to make pre-clearance a reality, and I will do everything I can to achieve this vital goal for Western New York,” New York Sen. Charles Schumer, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate and a longtime pre-clearance advocate, told the Buffalo News.

The agreement stems from the 2011 Beyond the Border pact between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama. It is a significant display of bilateral harmony during a period of public acrimony over the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Canada would be allowed to set up its own pre-clearance facilities in the U.S. Any new pre-clearance station on either side would have to be specifically approved by both governments. Blaney said only that stations would be opened “where and when it makes sense.”

“We know that pre-clearance works,” Blaney said, in “generating significant economic benefits” and reducing congestion.

“This is more jobs for America, this is more jobs for Canada, and this is a safer border,” he said.

A previous round of pre-clearance negotiations failed in 2007 over Canada’s sovereignty concerns about the powers to be granted to U.S. officers. Under the new agreement, U.S. agents in Canada would be permitted to carry guns. They could not make arrests, however, and would be subject to Canadian laws and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Canadian government said on its website.

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“Border pre-clearance — my greatest frustration while in government. Massive congratulations to everyone involved in getting today’s agreement,” former Harper chief of staff Ian Brodie wrote on Twitter.

Future negotiations over individual pre-clearance sites, and on who is responsible for the cost, could also be tricky. Canada, backing down, agreed in February to cover the entire $250-million cost of a new U.S. customs plaza on the Canadian side of the planned new bridge between Windsor and Detroit.