With the recent announcement by the Canadian government that their southern border with the United States will re-open to non-essential travel for fully vaccinated American travellers by land or air as of August 9, yet the American border will still be closed to Canadian travellers by land has been one big melange of mixed and changing messages when it comes to the 16 months since the largest undefended border in the world closed its doors on both sides as a result of the COVID pandemic.
Why can U.S. travellers can cross the Canadian border?
And as of this writing, no reciprocal accord regarding the opening of the Canada-U.S. border to travellers from both sides has been officially announced.
In an interview with CBC News, foreign policy expert Edward Alden stated that the U.S. is waiting until it’s ready to reopen its shared land border with its neighbour to the south, Mexico, which is also closed to non-essential travel.
“It would be enormously awkward for this administration … to lift the restrictions on Canada without simultaneously lifting the land border restrictions on Mexico,” he said.
And while the U.S. government continues to deliberate the situation with the Mexican border, the Canadian government’s decision about August 9 still stands, which means that fully vaccinated Americans can enter Canada and even skip quarantine.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the American side of the border will remained closed to Canadian land travellers until August 21. Canadians can still fly to the U.S.; however there are still strict conditions that are attached to that.
According to a report by CBC News, Canadian travellers must show proof of a negative molecular or antigen COVID-19 test taken no more than three days before their flight. When it comes to returning home to Canada, travellers must show proof of a negative molecular test that is taken in the U.S. Also, starting August 9, travellers can take that test when leaving Canada, and use it to both enter the U.S. and return home — as long as they’re in the U.S. for less than 72 hours.
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