Canada reopens border to vaccinated Americans

The government of Canada has reopened its border for some American tourists, The Associated Press reported.

According to the new measure, legal citizens and permanent residents of the U.S. will have to provide proof of vaccinations or proof of two negative COVID-19 tests with three days and will have to fill out an application through their ArriveCan app. 

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said that it’s unknown how many tourists will cross its border, adding that expected travelers should look out for additional processing time, according to the AP. 

CBSA spokeswoman Rebecca Purdy told the newswire that the agency will not compromise the health and safety of Canadians during this process. 

Many Canadian citizens say they are eagerly expecting the return of tourism in their country, with Primo’s Mexican Grill owner Joel Villanueva saying that his business depends on tourism from Americans. 

“Let’s get this thing going,”  Villanueva said. “A lot of our customers are from the United States, and we are literally minutes from across the border. We welcome our Americans, and we depend on their foot traffic,” the AP reported. 

The lifting of restrictions comes amid the U.S.-Canada bordered being closed for more than a year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

The U.S. government recently announced that it will extend its border closure for Canadian citizens until Aug. 21, the AP noted. 

Most of the world is struggling with the current surge of virus cases, as the highly contagious delta variant is hitting unvaccinated people hard.