TORONTO (AP) - Canada announced Monday it will begin letting fully vaccinated U.S. citizens into the country on Aug. 9 — without a 14-day quarantine requirement and with no restrictions on the reason for traveling — and will allow travelers from the rest of the world on Sept. 7.
The open border will apply only to U.S. citizens at least 14 days past their vaccination shot, according to the Canadian government announcement. Travelers will be required to upload proof of vaccination to Canada’s web portal, and will be required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of their arrival at the border.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said the U.S. has not yet announced similar plans to lift restrictions for its northern neighbors to cross the land border for discretionary travel. Canadians already are able to fly into the United States with a negative COVID-19 test.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki declined to say if the U.S. would reciprocate and open its land border to Canadians.
“We are continuing to review our travel restrictions. Any decisions about resuming travel will be guided by our public health and medical experts,” Psaki said Monday. “I wouldn’t look at it through a reciprocal intention.”
Canadian officials also announced that children who aren’t vaccinated but are traveling with vaccinated parents will not have to quarantine, but will have to avoid group activities.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week that Canada could start allowing fully vaccinated Americans into the country as of mid-August for nonessential travel and should be in a position to welcome fully vaccinated travelers from all countries by early September.
Trudeau noted his country continues to lead G20 countries in vaccination rates, with approximately 80% of eligible Canadians vaccinated with their first dose and over 50% of those eligible fully vaccinated.
The numbers in the U.S. are almost 66% of eligible Americans with at least their first vaccine dose, and almost 57% fully vaccinated as of Monday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the early days of the pandemic, the U.S. and Canadian governments both closed the more than 5,500-mile border to nonessential traffic. With increasing vaccination rates and dropping infection rates, many state and local officials and business owners were annoyed that the two governments hadn’t laid out plans to fully reopen the border.
Canada began easing its restrictions earlier this month, allowing fully vaccinated Canadians or permanent legal residents to return to Canada without quarantining. But among the requirements are a negative test for the virus before returning, and another once they get back.
Pressure has been mounting on Canada to continue to ease the restrictions at the border, which have been in effect
since March 2020. Providing exemptions for travel into Canada amid the pandemic is politically sensitive and Trudeau is expected to
call a federal election next month.
Commercial traffic has gone back and forth normally between the two countries since the start of the pandemic, despite the ban on tourist, business and family travelers.
The U.S. Travel Association estimates that each month the border is closed costs $1.5 billion in lost revenue. Canadian officials say Canada had about 22 million foreign visitors in 2019 — about 15 million of them from the United States.
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