Canada's border restrictions relax today to allow US tourists in

Aug 9 2021, 1:51 pm

Fully vaccinated US tourists are now allowed to enter Canada for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canada relaxed border rules at 12:01 am on Monday, August 9, allowing US citizens and permanent residents to visit for non-essential reasons.

The border relaxation follows Canada’s plan to welcome back tourists that was released in July.

Starting September 7, Canada also plans to welcome fully vaccinated tourists from elsewhere in the world.

Visitors will be able to enter Canada via land or air borders as long as they’ve completed a pre-arrival COVID-19 test and submitted their documents via the ArriveCAN app.

Travellers won’t need to take another COVID-19 test when they enter Canada unless they’ve been randomly selected.

The Canadian government advises its citizens to avoid non-essential travel because other countries may not have the same vaccine coverage or low COVID-19 case rates.

“International travel increases your risk of exposure to COVID-19 and its variants, as well as of spreading it to others,” the government said in a July 19 statement.

Land border still closed to Canadians

Although Canada is allowing US tourists in, the US is not giving Canadians the same courtesy.

The US land border will remain closed to non-essential travel until further notice.

Dual citizens and others permitted to enter the US for work for an essential reason can still drive across. Canadians can also fly into the US without quarantining, which they’ve been able to do throughout the pandemic.

Megan DevlinMegan Devlin

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