Update: timeline for re-opening the Canada-U.S. border
As reported by CBC, the closure agreement between Ottawa and Washington is expected to be renewed on May 21; some experts predict that travel across the Canada-U.S. border could resume by late summer
According to some experts, it’s predicted that travel across the Canada-U.S. border could resume by late summer or early fall. However, the process will be far from straightforward.
As reported by CBC, the closure agreement between Ottawa and Washington is expected to be renewed on May 21. The border has been closed to non-essential travel since March 2020.
Among people on both sides of the border is the question: When can I return to making day trips across the border?
“It’s going to be a long, long time,” answers Aaron Ettinger, Foreign Policy Expert. As both countries continue to navigate public health concerns, Ettinger believes that the border will remain largely shut for at least several more months.
“Politically, the United States and Canada would have to get on the same page – and that would take an enormous amount of diplomatic cross-border interaction,” he says.
The fact that the U.S. has vaccinated a far greater percentage of its residents than Canada only further complicates this relationship. The latter still has still yet to determine how to produce its own vaccine supply.
As noted in an article by the news source, Melissa Haussman, Professor of Political Science at Carleton University, agrees with Ettinger’s prediction of re-opening. He goes on to say that the rules requiring travelers to quarantine after crossing the border will likely change over time as the vaccine roll out expands and the number of cases decline.
According to the article, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentioned the possible implementation of a vaccine passport system last week.
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