Canada’s Taking It Slow On Reopening Its Border To Travelers From The U.S. Here’s Why – By Emma Jacobs (NPR) / July 14 2021
MONTREAL — For the past 30 years, Carol Anniuk has provided accommodation and guides for recreational fishing trips in northwestern Ontario. In normal times, 99% of her clients are American. But more than 15 months after Canada’s restrictions on nonessential travel went into effect to slow the spread of COVID-19, Anniuk, the owner of Young’s Wilderness Camp, doesn’t know when her U.S. clients will be able to cross the border.
“I’m just frustrated,” she sighs. Anniuk has taken on a lot of debt since the coronavirus pandemic began in her tourism-dependent area, a six-hour drive from Minneapolis. She bemoans “the lack of communication and the lack of a plan” from the Canadian government on when to begin admitting most visitors from the United States.
Canadians can fly to the U.S. but can’t cross by land, and most non-Canadians cannot enter Canada either by land or by air. The two countries continue to extend their travel measures — which are not the same in both directions — month by month.
In the latest step, which began July 5, the Canadian government lifted a mandatory 14-day quarantine for fully vaccinated Canadians and permanent residents returning to Canada. However, federal ministers have resisted providing a timeline or clear benchmarks for next steps in admitting more visitors.
