As U.S. prepares to reopen border, some urge Canada to relax testing requirement

This item is part of Watching Washington, a regular dispatch from CBC News correspondents reporting on U.S. politics and developments that affect Canadians.

What's new

The U.S. is about to reopen its land border with Canada to non-essential travel. And it won't require visitors to show a negative COVID-19test; proof of vaccination will suffice.

Cue the calls for Canada to apply the same standard.

Members of the U.S. Congress are expected tosend letters to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and members of Parliament asking Canada to drop the testing requirement for vaccinated travellers.

The hassle of getting tested will discourage people from taking advantage of the restored right to cross-border travel, said one member of Congress.

New York Rep.Brian Higgins, aDemocrat, said proof of vaccination should be enough.

"Testing is redundant," he said Wednesday, oneday after the U.S.confirmed it will reopen the border early next month.

"It will lead to a lot of Canadians that will be reluctant to come into the United States There's a cost associated with that. It's also an additional administrative step that I think is unnecessary."

What's the context

These calls for ending test requirements have one key goal:attractingmore Canadian travellers. Same-day trips represent a huge percentage ofCanadiantravel to the United States.

According to data from Statistics Canada, day trips comprised nearly half of allCanadian travelto the U.S. in 2019 and two-thirds of trips taken by car.

The current Canadian testing requirements make that difficult.

To enter Canada, recreational travellers need to provide evidence of a COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of entry. It can't be a rapid antigen test, but rathermust be a molecular test.

It takes one to two days to get those results at a leading U.S. pharmacy chainand can cost$139 US per sample. Canadian citizens can present a negative test performed in Canada, as long as it's no more than 72 hours old when they return to the country.

The testing hurdle is still anissue for border communities most reliant on day travel, such as Buffalo, N.Y., for example, which Higgins represents in Congress.

WATCH|Congressman Brian Higgins says entry rules for Canadians who received mixed COVID-19vaccines are coming:

U.S. lawmaker says guidance on mixed vaccines could come soon

3 years ago

Duration 7:19

The U.S. will soon allow fully vaccinated Canadians to cross the land border, but it has yet to issue guidance on mixed vaccines. Congressman Brian Higgins says he expects the White House to clarify the issue in the coming days.

Point Roberts, Wash., is another striking case.

The lack of same-day travel has devastated that community's economy. The town relies on people from the Vancouver area visiting the seashore, eating at a restaurantand picking up some groceries or gas before returning to Canada.

Brian Calder, the head of the local chamber of commerce, says he's worried the new travel rules won't mean much unless Canada relaxes its rules.

The tiny community has only two testing clinics per week, Calder said.It takes more than a day and costs $150 US to get the results.

"[Canadians] aren't going to come down [with these rules]," hetold CBC News.

What's next

Recreational travel into the U.S. by land will resume next month, the White House has announced.

Travellers will need to have proof of vaccination, but a White House official said: "No, there will not be a testing requirement."

Higgins said members of Congress will be writing to Trudeauand other members of Parliament, urging them to adopt the more-lenient U.S. rule on testing.

He said that authorities are eroding their own message that vaccines work well by instituting additional requirements beyond vaccination.

Will Canada heed calls to relax the testing requirement?

Ottawa isn't saying anything more about that for now.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair noted on Wednesday that the federal government accepts negative PCR tests that are up to 72 hours old for incoming travellers. Thatrulemeansthat Canadians making day trips to the U.S. can take theirCOVID-19 test before leavingand use it when they re-enter, rather than relying onaprivate test in the U.S.

WATCH|Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says Canada hopes to have an answer from the U.S.on mixed doses and crossing the border before the end of this month:

U.S. to open land border for fully vaccinated Canadians in early November

3 years ago

Duration 9:12

Will Canadians with mixed vaccine doses also be able to cross into the U.S. via land crossing next month? "I don't want to get ahead of the advice the CDC will give to the American government," says Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, "...we're hoping to have that information for Canadians before the end of this month".

"If [Canadians] want to go over and do some shopping, it will be relatively straightforward for them to return to Canada," Blair told CBC'sPower & Politics.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said longer-term rules haven't been finalized yet. During a trip to Washington on Wednesday, she repeated the same reply when asked by reporters about the test rules in French and English.

"We are working to clarify and finalize all the details with our American partners," Freeland said.

WATCH | Mayor of Windsor, Ont., reacts to landborder reopening:

Mayor of Windsor, Ont., reacts to land border reopening

3 years ago

Duration 7:37

Mayor of Windsor, Ont., Drew Dilkens joins Power & Politics to discuss the U.S. land border reopening to fully vaccinated Canadians next month, what the requirements will be and whether the U.S. will recognize a mixed-dose vaccine schedule.