Fully vaccinated U.S. citizens wasted little time Monday seizing their first chance in 17 months to venture into Canada, while lawmakers south of the border urged the White House to hurry up and follow Ottawa’s lead.
As of 12:01 a.m. Monday, American citizens and permanent residents were allowed back on Canadian soil, provided at least 14 days had elapsed since receiving a full course of a COVID-19 vaccine approved by Health Canada.
To be eligible, travelers must also live in the U.S., use Canada’s ArriveCAN app or web portal to upload their vaccination details and show proof of a negative molecular test that’s no more than 72 hours old.
John Adams, a Florida resident who has been waging a relentless advertising campaign against the travel restrictions, said he was expecting to be back at his property on Vancouver Island before the supper hour.
“So far, our experience has been totally hassle-free given the substantial new requirements,” Adams wrote in an email from the airport in Tampa.
The restrictions had barely been eased 10 minutes before Adams got text messages from two separate people who had already crossed — one at the Peace Bridge in Buffalo, N.Y., the other in B.C.
“I asked both to rate their border crossing on a scale of one to 10 and both rated it as a 10.”
Travelers likely felt differently at the Fort Frances bridge between northern Ontario and Minnesota, where CBSA was reporting a seven-hour delay. Crossing from Maine to New Brunswick was taking upwards of four hours.
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Source: CTV News
