FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OCTOBER 14, 2021

 

STATEMENT ON THE U.S. ANNOUNCEMENT THAT THEY WILL BE RE-OPENING THE BORDER FOR CANADIAN NON-ESSENTIAL, FULLY VACCINATED TRAVELERS THIS NOVEMBER 2021

 WINDSOR, ON – The announcement that the United States will begin accepting non-essential, fully vaccinated visitors through its borders this coming November 2021 is a great relief to my constituents, and to all Canadians, who have been prevented from seeing their families and friends or working in non-essential businesses in the United States since March 2020.

Further, many small and large businesses have suffered immensely from the border closure and this will allow them the opportunity to see more business and rebuild from the pandemic closures.

However, it is vital that we continue working towards re-opening in the safest and most pragmatic way.  I have repeatedly called on the Trudeau Liberals to develop a Safe Border Reopening Task Force to ensure that border communities and residents are not faced with another potential lockdown or another wave of Covid in our communities.

We need to ensure that all mixed-dose vaccines, approved by Canada, are recognized by the United States Administration for travel purposes and are not preventing Canadians, who did everything our Government asked of them, from family reunification and access to homes and properties on the US side of the border.

Lastly, Canadians need to remember that they will still be required to plan ahead when traveling for non-essential purposes and they must know and follow the rules for re-entry into Canada. This includes using the Government of Canada’s ArriveCAN app, having valid copies of your vaccine receipts, and obtaining a negative Covid test result in the US before crossing back into Canada.

I am glad to see this movement on the border re-opening and look forward to seeing the full set of regulations when they are introduced.

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For More Information: Melanie Namespetra: 613-996-1541 or [email protected]