Canada and the United States lift some border restrictions

Toronto (AFP) – Travel restrictions between Canada and the United States due to the pandemic began to ease Monday for some Canadians, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said plans to fully reopen the city will be announced in the coming weeks. the border.

Canadian citizens and permanent residents with the full schedule of coronavirus vaccines approved for use in Canada can bypass the 14-day quarantine that has been in effect since March 2020. Eligible travelers arriving in Canada by air will not have to spend the first time. Three days in the country inside a government approved hotel.

Restrictions banning non-essential travel between Canada and the United States, including tourism, will remain in effect until at least July 21.

Trudeau said the reduction in restrictions represented a “big step” toward reopening the borders.

“We very much hope to see in the coming weeks announcing more steps for reopening,” he said at a news conference in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. “We will make sure that there is no rebound in COVID-19 cases, because no one wants to go back to restrictions, having done so much and sacrificed so much to get to this point.”

Julia Dunn, who landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport from the US on her way to Halifax, was pleased with the new procedures.

“It’s so liberating to be able to go home with the family without having to spend those two weeks alone,” she said.

Dan, who was born in Cape Breton but resides in Houston, said he booked his trip to Canada after learning of plans to lift the mandatory quarantine two weeks ago.

Trudeau said he understood how worried people were about reopening borders, but stressed that the pandemic was ongoing and that “things are not back to normal yet.”

“No one wants to move too fast and these restrictions have to be imposed again due to the increase in cases as we are seeing in other parts of the world,” he said. “We have to do things right.”