OTTAWA, Ontario (WKBW) — Fully vaccinated people will be allowed to enter Canada with fewer restrictions starting July 5, according to the CBC.
Canadians, permanent residents and certain foreign nationals will no longer have to self-isolate for 14 days upon returning if they received their second COVID-19 shot, or the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, at least two weeks prior to entering the country.
Proof of vaccination will be required, as will testing before arriving and upon arrival, according to the CBC. Travel restrictions for those who are not fully vaccinated remain unchanged.
On Friday, Canada's Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair said border restrictions on non-essential travel with the United States would be extended until July 21, although he added the government planned to release details Monday on travel plans for fully immunized Canadians.
Following the announcement from the Canadian government Friday, Congressman Brian Higgins, who serves as co-chair of the Canada-U.S. Interparliamentary Group, used an expletive in describing the border closure extension.
There’s no other way to say it: another month’s delay is bullshit. #LetUsReunite pic.twitter.com/xL2vUQol8e
— Brian Higgins (@RepBrianHiggins) June 18, 2021
More expletive-fueled 🔥 from @RepBrianHiggins about the Canadian border exemptions given to NHL teams but not to families who have been desperate to reunite. cc: @BillBlair pic.twitter.com/bRea2RGzib
— Ashley Rowe (@AshleyroweWKBW) June 18, 2021
In a Sunday interview discussing travel restrictions, Blair said the "finish line" is when a significant majority of Canadians - approximately 75 percent - are fully-vaccinated.
More than 75 percent of Canadians have currently received at least one dose of the vaccine, while more than 20 percent are now fully vaccinated.
"First the public was told vaccinations were the key to reopening the border," Higgins said Monday morning in response to Blair's latest comments. "Yet the vaccinated continue to be shut out. Then it was said, 75 percent partially vaccinated and 20 percent fully vaccinated was the threshold Canada needed to meet to loosen restrictions. That goal has been reached and still the border restrictions were extended for another month."
It's unclear if the United States government will follow Canada's lead announced Monday in allowing fully vaccinated travelers from Canada to cross into the U.S.
The U.S.-Canada border has been closed to non-essential travel since March 2020.
