Today, U.S. has finally opened borders for fully vaccinated travelers from Canada, traveling for non-essential purpose such as tourism. The border was closed since the beginning of pandemic in March 2020 for non-essential travelers. Previously, Canada opened border for non-essential travelers from America in August. However, U.S. did not open the border in return at that time. On October 15, Hon’ble Bill Blair (Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness) tweeted that U.S. government officials have confirmed that borders will open on November 8 for fully non-essential travelers from Canada.
Today at 12:01 a.m., all ports of entry into the U.S. opened for fully vaccinated non-essential travelers, including tourists and ferries. Fully vaccinated means that 14 days must pass after either a second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Covishield) or after a one-dose vaccine (Janssen). Furthermore, mixed doses of two different approved vaccines will also be considered, if they were inoculated at least 17 days apart.
It’s important to mention here that negative COVID-19 test will not be required to cross the border by land. However, for air travelers pre-departure COVID test is still required. There will be increased wait times on the land border starting today, so we will recommend to plan accordingly.
As per CDC, acceptable proof of vaccination can be a digital or print version of a vaccine certificate with a QR code or a vaccination record. Furthermore, vaccination requirement is not applicable for children under the age of 18, but they must be accompanied by a fully vaccinated adult. This is opposite to regulations by Canada as travelers from America or returning Canadians still need negative COVID test.
