Canada and the US lift some border restrictions

TORONTO (AP) – Travel restrictions between Canada and the United States due to the pandemic began to ease for some Canadians on Monday, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said plans to fully reopen the city in the coming weeks will be announced.

Canadian citizens and permanent residents who have the full schedule of coronavirus vaccines approved for use in Canada can bypass the 14-day quarantine effective March 2020. Eligible travelers arriving in Canada by air will no longer have to incur their first expenses. Three days in the country inside a government-approved hotel.

The restrictions restricting non-essential travel between Canada and the United States, including tourism, will remain in effect until at least July 21.

Trudeau said the reduction in restrictions is a “big step” toward reopening the border.

“We are very hopeful that in the coming weeks we are going to announce further steps on reopening,” he said at a news conference in Salt Ste Marie, Ontario. -19, because no one wants to go back after sanctions, have done so much and sacrificed so much to get to this point.”

Julia Dunn, who landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport from the United States on her way to Halifax, expressed her happiness with the new measures.

“It’s so liberating to be able to get the family home without having to spend those two weeks alone,” she said.

Dunn, who was born in Cape Breton but lives in Houston, said she booked her flight to Canada after learning about plans to lift the mandatory quarantine a few weeks ago.

Trudeau said he understands how concerned people are about reopening the border, but stressed that the pandemic continues and “things have not yet returned to normal.”

“No one wants to move too fast and because of the increase in cases restrictions should be reimposed, as we are seeing in other parts of the world,” he said. “We have to make things right.”