U.S. extends travel restrictions at land border with Canada until Aug. 21

OTTAWA —
The U.S. says it will extend its current land border restrictions until Aug. 21, days after the Canadian government announced it would permit fully vaccinated Americans travelling into the country for discretionary purposes as of Aug. 9.

The restrictions that allow only essential travel across the land border were set to expire Wednesday. Canadians who wish to travel to the U.S. can still do so by air but must submit a negative COVID-19 test three days prior to departure or proof from a health-care provider that they have recovered from COVID-19 in the past 90 days.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said Wednesday that he had been advised by the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security of the intention to renew the border restrictions that have been in place since March, 2020.

“Part of the relationship between ourselves and our colleagues and friends in the United States is an approach with no surprises at the border. Our work has always been collaborative, cooperative and very candid. We’re working very well together,” Blair said.

U.S. travellers who plan to enter Canada as of 12:01 a.m. EDT on Aug. 9 must have completed a full vaccination course with one of the four approved vaccines in Canada – Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson – at least 14 days prior to arrival. They will be exempt from quarantine and post-arrival testing unless randomly selected.

More to come…