US land border "likely" to remain closed to Canadians

Jul 19 2021, 6:54 pm

Although Canada will begin welcoming fully vaccinated Americans into the country next month, the US has not yet reciprocated the measure.

On July 19, federal officials announced that Canada’s border would reopen to immunized American citizens and US permanent residents that live in the States on August 9.

However, Bill Blair, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, noted that Canadians, vaccinated or not, will not be permitted to cross the land border into the US.

Blair said that he had spoken to Alejandro Mayorkas, the Secretary of Homeland Security, as recently as last Friday.

“I revealed to him the measures that Canada would be implementing at our border. He indicated to me at this time they have not yet made a decision [on reopening the border to Canadians],” Blair said.

“They anticipate their current measures will likely be rolled over on July 21… They have not indicated a plan to make any changes in their current border restrictions.”

The land border between Canada and the United States has been closed to non-essential travel since March 2020.

The measure has been continuously extended, most recently until July 21.

Zoe DemarcoZoe Demarco

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