Member-only story
In March 2020, the Canadian and U.S. governments jointly decided to close their land border to non-essential travel. The restrictions have been in place for 16 months. However, the Canadian government has just announced that, beginning on 9 August 2021, U.S. citizens and permanent residents (including unvaccinated children under 12 traveling with their parents) will be allowed to enter Canada for discretionary travel without the obligation to quarantine for 14 days.
In contrast, on 21 July 2021, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a notification that non-essential travel from Canada would remain restricted for an additional month on the grounds that the risk of spreading COVID-19 “poses an ongoing specific threat to human life or national interests.” That decision creates a huge short-term economic opportunity for Canada, if it acts immediately in its own national interests.
In February 2020, the month before border traffic was restricted, more than 600,000 vehicles entered Canada from the U.S. Since April 2020, the monthly average has been less than a quarter of that figure, according to StatsCan. The vehicles currently heading north across the 49th Parallel carry returning Canadians and permanent residents, as well as U.S.-based persons considered essential workers, such as truck drivers and those employed in the healthcare…
