Canada, U.S. Easing Some Travel Restrictions

While Canadians and Americans wait for the land border to open to non-essential travel, some pandemic restrictions on travel between Canada and the U.S. have loosened as of Monday (July 5).

Canadian citizens and permanent residents who have received a full dose of a coronavirus vaccine approved for use in Canada are allowed to skip a the 14-day quarantine that had been in place since March 2020. Air travelers who are eligible will also be able to skip the requirement of spending their first three days in Canada at a government-approved hotel.

During a news conference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he's hopeful plans to completely reopen the border would be announced in the next few weeks.

“We’re very hopeful that we’re going to see new steps on reopening announced in the coming weeks,” Trudeau said at the news conference in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

He added, “We’re going to make sure that we’re not seeing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases because nobody wants to go back to further restrictions, after having done so much and sacrificed so much to get to this point.”

Restrictions preventing non-essential travel between Canada and the United States still hold until at least July 21.