Canada, U.S. extend border restrictions another month
WASHINGTON, Wash. — Limits on travel between Canada and the United States will persist for at least four more weeks, the federal government confirmed Monday.
“We are extending non-essential travel restrictions with the United States until Nov. 21, 2020,” Public Safety Minister Bill Blair declared on Twitter.
“Our decisions will continue to be based on the best public health advice available to keep Canadians safe.”
Incidental visits like vacations, day trips and cross-border shopping excursions have been forbidden since March in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19.
The restrictions don't apply to those who must cross to ensure the flow of goods and essential services, including truckers and health workers who live in one country but work in the other. Canada has also added certain exemptions to reunite extended family members.
An online poll released last week by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies suggested two of three Canadians
wouldn't be comfortable travelling to the U.S. even after restrictions are lifted.
The strongest reservations were expressed in Ontario and B.C., where 77 per cent said they wouldn't travel. Quebec and Atlantic Canada were somewhat less concerned at 63 per cent and 65 per cent, respectively.
Online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they don't generate a random sample of the population.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said the travel ban won't be eased until there's clear evidence the pandemic is slowing in the U.S.
“We keep extending the border closures because the United States is not in a place where we would feel comfortable reopening those borders,” Trudeau told the Global News podcast The Start last week.
“We see the cases in the United States and elsewhere around the world, and we need to continue to keep these border controls in place.”