U.S. agrees to extend border restrictions

WASHINGTON—Canada is already contemplating the measures it will take to safely end restrictions on international travel, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday as he confirmed the United States has agreed to extend the mutual ban on non-essential border crossings for another 30 days.

The ban, which prohibits discretionary travel like vacations and cross-border shopping without restricting trade, commerce and essential employees, was set to expire Thursday until the U.S. agreed to Canada’s request to extend it to June 21.

What might happen at that point remains an open question, but one the federal government is already thinking about, said Trudeau, who described the U.S. as a “source of vulnerability” when it comes to the risk of importing cases of COVID-19.

“We’ve given ourselves another month before we have to have the right answers to those questions on non-essential travel,” he said.

“Even now, we know that we need to do more to ensure that travellers who are coming back from overseas or from the United States, as Canadians, are properly followed up on, are properly isolated and don’t become further vectors for the spread of COVID-19.”

Ottawa continues to work with the provinces on developing those measures, which will be even more important “once we get to a point where nonessential travel picks up again in the coming — months, I guess,” he added.

The U.S. has more than 1.5 million active cases of COVID-19, 42 per cent of the world’s active caseload.

Its death toll crossed the 90,000 threshold over the weekend, growing at a rate of more than 1,000 fatalities a day. But it is also barrelling headlong towards reopening, with an election-wary U.S. President Donald Trump leading the charge.

Asked about the border restrictions Tuesday during an event at the White House, Trump acknowledged the ongoing talks. “We’re very close to Canada,” he said, describing Trudeau as “a friend of ours.” But he also showcased his longstanding eagerness to get the U.S. back to business.

“We’re very confident that we’re going to have a tremendous, tremendous turnaround. We had to turn it off artificially, and now we’re turning it back on, and you’re going to see some tremendous numbers,” Trump said.

A new poll suggests Canadians, however, aren’t in any hurry.

In the latest online survey by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies, only 16 per cent of Canadian respondents said they want to see the border open by the end of June, while 47 per cent would prefer to wait until the end of the year.