Canada yesterday lifted its prohibition on Americans crossing the border to shop, vacation or visit, but the US is keeping similar restrictions in place for Canadians, part of a bumpy return to normalcy from COVID-19 travel bans.
US citizens and legal permanent residents must be fully vaccinated and test negative for COVID-19 within three days to cross one of the world’s longest and busiest land borders. Travelers must also fill out a detailed on application on the arriveCAN app before crossing.
Even though travelers have to register, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) would not say how many people they are expecting to enter Canada for the reopening. Travelers should plan for the possibility of additional processing time at the border.
Photo: Reuters
“CBSA will not compromise the health and safety of Canadians for the sake of border wait times,” agency spokeswoman Rebecca Purdy said in a statement.
Garnet Health, a company that offers same-day COVID-19 testing, said that the number of tests it performs has more than tripled in the past few weeks.
The increase coincides with Canada’s decision last month to drop a two-week quarantine requirement for its citizens when they return home from the US.
“I imagine once that border opens, we are going to see lots of people,” said Chelsea Sweeney, the company’s director of business development.
The US-Canada border has been closed to nonessential travel since March last year to try to slow the spread of COVID-19.
The US has said it would extend its closure to all Canadians making nonessential trips until at least Saturday next week, which also applies to the Mexican border, but US President Joe Biden’s administration is beginning to make plans for a phased reopening.
The main requirement would be that nearly all foreign visitors to the US would have to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Canadians are not waiting for reciprocal rules.
Joel Villanueva, owner of Primo’s Mexican Grill in White Rock, British Columbia, about 4km north of the US border, is more than ready for Americans to return.
“Let’s get this thing going,” he said. “A lot of our customers are from the United States, and we are literally minutes from across the border. We welcome our Americans, and we depend on their foot traffic.”
Villanueva said he supports people coming who are fully vaccinated and does not think there will be a rush of Americans initially.
If his restaurant and dozens of others along the waterfront could fill some tables with US visitors every day for the rest of the summer, it would be a big financial boost, he said.
Near the border in Washington state, Blaine Chamber of Commerce board member Carroll Solomon called the reopening a step in the right direction for businesses.
She also said it was somewhat concerning because of an increase in COVID-19 cases nationwide as the highly contagious Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 spreads.
“For people who need to get up there [to Canada] for family reasons, it’s wonderful,” said Solomon, who also volunteers at the Blaine Visitor Information Center.
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