Border restrictions to be dropped

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The Canadian government is expected to announce on Monday that it will be dropping its Covid-19 vaccination requirement and end random Covid-19 testing for people entering the country, according to news reports by various Canadian media outlets. It is also expected to make the ArriveCan app optional. The current Covid-19 emergency order in council is set to expire on September 30. According to the CBC, unnamed sources told them that the decision was awaiting approval by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

On Tuesday, 16 members of Parliament and mayors of 15 Canadian and seven U.S. cities sent a letter to Trudeau and President Joe Biden calling on them to drop Covid-19 restrictions at the border. “When COVID-19 was at its peak and border measures were effective at slowing transmission rates, we did our part to keep Canadians and Americans safe," they wrote. “Now, we have been left behind in the recovery effort as both countries have largely returned to normal daily life.”

Asked to comment, Blaine immigration attorney Len Saunders said, “It’s definitely a step in the right direction and is encouraging but why haven’t the Americans taken similar steps? Aren’t the two governments talking to each other? As it is, it helps Americans more than Canadians. Americans will be able to come and go, regardless of their vaccination status but unvaccinated Canadians won’t be able to come to the States. It would be nice if both governments were on the same page. I’d be interested in knowing if Justin had called Joe to tell him what he was planning to do and suggest that Joe do the same.” Saunders described the changes as “baby steps” and said that the two governments should also be cooperating on Nexus, the trusted traveler program that has huge delays in processing hundreds of thousands of applications currently.

Emails to Canada Border Services Agency and Health Canada asking for confirmation were not answered by press time.

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