Canadian border will remain closed.

[Chrisky]

Our Prime Minister said today in a news conference that our border with the US will remain closed except for essential transport of goods etc. until June 21.
At that time a decision will be taken to decide if the border will remain closed or reopen to limited crossings.

 

[AJCts411]

Just my opinion. But in Ontario, all malls are closed...shopping...you line up to get into the open shops. Restrunts , bars are closed. All entertainment venues closed...so other that separating family members who would be crossing the boarder? Seems to me tourism is dead in Ontario. Whats open in Michigan and NY..don't really know but with a $1.42 Canadian dollar who can really afford crossing into the USA? Not shoppers.

 

[jabberwocky]

Just my opinion. But in Ontario, all malls are closed...shopping...you line up to get into the open shops. Restrunts , bars are closed. All entertainment venues closed...so other that separating family members who would be crossing the boarder? Seems to me tourism is dead in Ontario. Whats open in Michigan and NY..don't really know but with a $1.42 Canadian dollar who can really afford crossing into the USA? Not shoppers.

It’s a very different story out in the west. Things were always pretty open for many stores. Our home renovation continued without pause since construction is an essential industry.

Right now in AB we’re pretty much sitting at zero new daily cases and declining hospitalizations (only 6 people in ICU in the whole province). Testing capacity in AB is 16k people and only 2-3k people are meeting the very broad criteria to take a test. They are practically begging people to take a test.

As soon as the border opens up our family will be heading south to visit my BIL and his family.

 

[CanuckTravlr]

The Canada/US border agreement that closes the border to non-essential travel is extended once again, now until at least July 21st. It is highly likely this will also not be the last extension. There are a few exceptions to the non-essential travel ban, such as reunification of immediate family members, introduced in early June.

Canada-U.S. border to remain closed to non-essential travel for another month

An agreement has once again been reached between Canada and the United States to keep the border closed to all non-essential travel for another month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced.

www.ctvnews.ca

 

[moonstone]

The Canadian - US border remains closed until Oct.21st for all non-essential traffic, although some restrictions have been lifted to allow families and others to visit. It appears many people don't know the rules or think they don't apply to them.

More than 3,400 Americans rejected from entering Canada last month for shopping, sightseeing

Another 3,441 travellers from the U.S. were rejected from entering Canada over the last month, according to new figures from the Canada Border Services Agency on Thursday.

www.ctvnews.ca

~Diane

 

[AnnaS]

We wold love to visit my husband's aunt and uncle. We will have to wait and have some patience. We visited them I believe two years ago. They are elderly (80s) - don't want to risk them getting sick......yet - like so many - precious time is wasting. It is what it is.

 

[Synergy]

We wold love to visit my husband's aunt and uncle. We will have to wait and have some patience. We visited them I believe two years ago. They are elderly (80s) - don't want to risk them getting sick......yet - like so many - precious time is wasting. It is what it is.

We are trying to decide how to safely visit my other half's ailing elderly mom. We are also staying pretty isolated here because my dad recently started chemo. We think we would be relatively safe to fly up to her if we only visit with her for 48 hours after we get to the airport here - better than nothing, anyway. We'd isolate upon our return to make sure we didn't pick up anything before visiting my father again. Unfortunately, right now NY doesn't have a testing exemption to allow Florida visitors, so that plan is on hold for awhile. So tough to navigate all this =(

 

[moonstone]

New extension announced this morning, not really a surprise.

Canada-U.S. border to remain closed until Nov. 21, at least

The COVID-19 travel restrictions in place at the Canada-U.S. land border will remain in effect until Nov. 21 at least.

www.ctvnews.ca

~Diane

 

[BingoBangoBongo]

I have no doubt the closure will extend at least through the end of 2020.

 

[geist1223]

Hopefully it will end by June 2021. We would hate to miss 2 trips to Vancouver BC.

 

[pedro47]

Your Prime Minister made the right decision IMHO.

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

Your Prime Minister made the right decision IMHO.

The decision had the support of all the provincial premiers and something over 80% of those asked in various polls.

He also made the right decision from another viewpoint - Prime Minister’s are the leader of their party and his party currently has a minority of seats in parliament- so there is no upside to a decision to open the border, since any other party that would support this would also be swimming against polling numbers.

 

[moonstone]

Hopefully it will end by June 2021. We would hate to miss 2 trips to Vancouver BC.

I called the RCI/VV rep after the announcement this morning to reschedule our check-in this Saturday at VV@Pkwy to Oct.2021 and said I hope we are able to travel by then!! Yikes!

~Diane

 

[AJCts411]

My guess remains the same on the border reopening, still is after the US election, as both "sides" in the US are advocating for reopening the boarder, but it is way to big of a political football with an election pending. And after the USA thanksgiving. End of the day the USA could open the boarder to all traffic at the land crossings, and there is absoluty zero the CDN goverment could do to stop anyone from leaving the country, re-entering/entering Canada...still a 2 week quarantine at worst.

 

[Ironwood]

The Canadian border remains closed to entry for non essential travel to at least November 21, and I wouldn't hold out hopes for a re-opening until into the new year.
Asked about the border on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the “situation in the United States continues to be of concern.” Public Safety Minister Blair says health and welfare of Canadians comes first.

 

[DannyTS]

The vast majority of Canadians do not travel abroad on an yearly basis, 40% do not even have a passport. If the polls are future guidance for the government the border can stay closed forever

 

[CanuckTravlr]

My guess remains the same on the border reopening, still is after the US election, as both "sides" in the US are advocating for reopening the boarder, but it is way to big of a political football with an election pending. And after the USA thanksgiving. End of the day the USA could open the boarder to all traffic at the land crossings, and there is absoluty zero the CDN goverment could do to stop anyone from leaving the country, re-entering/entering Canada...still a 2 week quarantine at worst.

The Canadian government has not stopped anyone from leaving and returning to Canada. You just can't drive or walk across the US land border into the USA. If you are already in the USA, any Canadian citizen or permanent resident can re-enter Canada by land. I doubt Canada will change the entry restrictions anytime soon.

There have also been no restrictions on anyone flying from Canada to the USA or anywhere else, other than maybe flight availability. That is still an option. However, when you re-enter Canada, you are still subject to the 14-day quarantine rules.

What the USA decides to do with who they might let cross is entirely their decision. American citizens or resident aliens have also been allowed to re-enter the USA by land from Canada, if they happened to be here already, or were legally transiting to or from Alaska and the lower 48.

 

[DannyTS]

The Canadian government has not stopped anyone from leaving and returning to Canada. You just can't drive or walk across the US land border into the USA. If you are already in the USA, any Canadian citizen or permanent resident can re-enter Canada by land. I doubt Canada will change the entry restrictions anytime soon.

There have also been no restrictions on anyone flying from Canada to the USA or anywhere else, other than maybe flight availability. That is still an option. However, when you re-enter Canada, you are still subject to the 14-day quarantine rules.

What the USA decides to do with who they might let cross is entirely their decision. American citizens or resident aliens have also been allowed to re-enter the USA by land from Canada, if they happened to be here already, or were legally transiting to or from Alaska and the lower 48.

I would actually prefer to be able to travel by car than by plane, many people consider it a safer option

 

[dioxide45]

If people can still travel by air, what purposes is it really serving other than being symbolic?

 

[BingoBangoBongo]

If people can still travel by air, what purposes is it really serving other than being symbolic?

I’d guess it eliminates a large number of day/weekend trips across the border. Most people don’t fly to the outlet malls/casinos.

As an aside, I did notice an enclosed car carrier on the NYS Thruway last week headed back towards the border. I’d guess they are seeing some increased business with those willing to fly while they pay to have their car shipped.

 

[moonstone]

As an aside, I did notice an enclosed car carrier on the NYS Thruway last week headed back towards the border. I’d guess they are seeing some increased business with those willing to fly while they pay to have their car shipped.

Yes I bet there is an increase in shipping since folks could fly and meet their vehicle somewhere. I belong to several camping Facebook pages and have read about many Canadians (with fat wallets?) shipping their motorhomes across the border so they can still winter in the south. One couple said it was so expensive to ship to Florida they made arrangements to ship their motorhome from Toronto to Buffalo and they will fly. One company they contacted for an estimate told them they couldn't have any personal effects in the motorhome -haha, the whole point is to put most of what they want to take and use all winter into the RV.

DH decided, out of curiosity, to get a few quotes on shipping our Nissan Cube from the Toronto or Fort Erie area to the Buffalo area so we could drive to Florida. The cheapest quote he got was $850 Cndn. Yikes! We are staying at home.


~Diane

 

[Mroze]

Yes I bet there is an increase in shipping since folks could fly and meet their vehicle somewhere. I belong to several camping Facebook pages and have read about many Canadians (with fat wallets?) shipping their motorhomes across the border so they can still winter in the south. One couple said it was so expensive to ship to Florida they made arrangements to ship their motorhome from Toronto to Buffalo and they will fly. One company they contacted for an estimate told them they couldn't have any personal effects in the motorhome -haha, the whole point is to put most of what they want to take and use all winter into the RV.

DH decided, out of curiosity, to get a few quotes on shipping our Nissan Cube from the Toronto or Fort Erie area to the Buffalo area so we could drive to Florida. The cheapest quote he got was $850 Cndn. Yikes! We are staying at home.


~Diane

$850 CDN is a steal. We paid USD $1200 to ship our sons car within the US.

 

[CanuckTravlr]

$850 CDN is a steal. We paid USD $1200 to ship our sons car within the US.

It SOUNDS cheap, but how far did you have to ship your son's car? Fort Erie is right across the Niagara River from Buffalo. So $850 (even if CAD) to ship it maybe 10 or 20 miles is not my idea of cheap!

Even from Toronto, it's less than 100 miles to Buffalo. But if you are going to be in the USA for several weeks or months, it is still a lot cheaper than a rental car, even factoring in the flight costs to get to Buffalo. The bigger issue might be finding a cross-border flight to Buffalo during the pandemic, so a private charter might be needed.

 

[moonstone]

It SOUNDS cheap, but how far did you have to ship your son's car? Fort Erie is right across the Niagara River from Buffalo. So $850 (even if CAD) to ship it maybe 10 or 20 miles is not my idea of cheap!
Even from Toronto, it's less than 100 miles to Buffalo. But if you are going to be in the USA for several weeks or months, it is still a lot cheaper than a rental car, even factoring in the flight costs to get to Buffalo. The bigger issue might be finding a cross-border flight to Buffalo during the pandemic, so a private charter might be needed.

Yes, I don't think there are many, if any, direct flights from Toronto to Buffalo. The couple who are shipping their motorhome couldn't get a direct flight so they are flying Toronto to a point in the eastern US (cant remember if it was New York City, Philadelphia, DC) then back to Buffalo which is going to take them most of the day. What a procedure! At least they should be able to drive home in the spring with no problems. I hope it works out for them and their winter stay is worth the hassle and cost.

We looked into flying to Florida but since we had 17 nights booked down there in 3 different cities/towns we would definitely need a rental car. When we added the cost of return flights from Toronto and Orlando and rental car for 18 days it was going to be at least 3X the cost that we spend in gas, food & lodging along the way to drive our car down, tour around and drive home again. Plus I wouldn't be able to bring all my "stuff" that I like to take for timeshare stays. We wont even mention trying to get one of our kids to get out of bed in the middle of the night to make the 90 min drive to the Toronto airport for 4am or long term parking near the airport for our car. Geesh!


~Diane

 

[CanuckTravlr]

Yes, I don't think there are many, if any, direct flights from Toronto to Buffalo. The couple who are shipping their motorhome couldn't get a direct flight so they are flying Toronto to a point in the eastern US (cant remember if it was New York City, Philadelphia, DC) then back to Buffalo which is going to take them most of the day. What a procedure! At least they should be able to drive home in the spring with no problems. I hope it works out for them and their winter stay is worth the hassle and cost.

We looked into flying to Florida but since we had 17 nights booked down there in 3 different cities/towns we would definitely need a rental car. When we added the cost of return flights from Toronto and Orlando and rental car for 18 days it was going to be at least 3X the cost that we spend in gas, food & lodging along the way to drive our car down, tour around and drive home again. Plus I wouldn't be able to bring all my "stuff" that I like to take for timeshare stays. We wont even mention trying to get one of our kids to get out of bed in the middle of the night to make the 90 min drive to the Toronto airport for 4am or long term parking near the airport for our car. Geesh!


~Diane

I fully agree with you, Diane. Years ago, rental cars were cheap in Florida, but not anymore. We always drive down to either the Carolinas and/or Florida for the same reasons as you, especially since we are usually gone for at least15 to 30 days at a time. Not this year. This will be our first time staying home all winter in years. We cancelled our Florida trip at the end of December and our 5-week stay in St. Martin that was scheduled for January/February 2021.