Canada-US border to remain closed to non-essential travel until June 21

(FILES) In this file photo US Customs officers speaks with people in a car beside a sign saying that the US border is closed at the US/Canada border in Lansdowne, Ontario, on March 22, 2020. The Canada-US border will remain closed to all non-essential travel for another month, until June 21, to fight the spread of the coronavirus, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced May 19, 2020. The world’s longest frontier at 8,900 kilometers (5,500 miles) was closed on March 21. Trudeau at his daily briefing said this second extension was “important … to keep people in both of our countries safe.” Lars Hagberg / AFP

By Thomas I. Likness
EBC Edmonton Bureau

EDMONTON (Eagle News) —  Canada and the United States have agreed to extend the ban on nonessential travel between the two countries until June 21, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Tuesday.

“This is an important decision that will keep people in both of our countries safe,” Trudeau said. “It was the right thing to extend by 30 days our closure of the Canada-US border to travelers other than essential services and goods.”

This is the second such extension since the border was closed in March. It had been set to reopen this Thursday.

Trudeau would not rule out further extensions to the closure.

“As we’ve seen, the decisions we are taking are very much made week to week in this crisis,” explained Trudeau. “The situation is changing rapidly and we’re adjusting constantly to what is the right measures for Canadians to get that balance right between keeping people safe and restoring a semblance of normality and economic activity that we all rely on.”

“We will continue to watch carefully what’s happening elsewhere in the world and around us as we make decisions on next steps,” he added.

The prime minister would not speculate on what additional measures might be put in place when Canada opens its borders to international travellers.

Some provincial premiers have called for increased screening and contact tracing of international arrivals.

“These are ongoing questions, we’ve given ourselves another month before we have to have the right answers to those questions on nonessential travel,” said Trudeau. “But even now, we know that we need to do even more to ensure that travellers who are coming back from overseas or 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.”

Trudeau said he is working closely with the provinces to ensure that the arrival of people into Canada does put the health of others at risk.

(Eagle News Service)