(Closure Extended) US-Canada & Mexico Border Closures

US-Canada & Mexico Border Closure Updates

Update 9/23/21:

The land border closure has been extended until at least October 21, 2021. The United States has recently said that they plan to remove the travel ban for vaccinated foreign nationals in November for air travel. But they continue to push back the land border closures even though the Canadian Government opened to border to vaccinated Americans August 9th. I would assume land borders would open around the same time as air travel opens up but that remains to be seen.

Update 8/24/21:

As Canada has opened it’s borders to vaccinated Americans, the US government has once again extended the border ban for Mexico and Canada until at least September 21. This has not sat well with the Canadian government; they expected the same courtesy after opening their border to US citizens. Many believe these continued border closures hurt the economies of the border cities, and tourism as a whole, because Mexico and Canada are our number 1 and 2 visiting countries…by a very wide margin.

Fully vaccinated US citizens can still go to Canada and pass through the border crossing back into the US.  You would need a negative test to come back across the border.  If you are flying into Canada, Ryan shares his experience with the current requirements.

Update 7/20/21:

We finally have an exact reopening date. Canada has announced that it will begin letting fully vaccinated U.S. citizens into the country starting August 9. As for visitors from the rest of the world, they can travel to Canada starting September 7.

Canadian officials said the 14-day quarantine requirement will be waived as of Aug. 9 for eligible travelers who are currently residing in the United States and have received a full course of a COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in Canada. Currently, those vaccines are manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD, and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson). Travelers can receive their vaccine in any country, and must provide evidence supporting their vaccination in English, French or with a certified translation (along with the original).

Update 7/16/21: 

The Prime Minister of Canada announced yesterday that Canada plans to open the border to non essential travel for fully vaccinated Americans in mid-August.  They hope to open the border to other countries starting in September.

Update 6/22/21:

The land border closure between the US and Canada has been extended another month, until at least July 21st.  Canada is working on a vaccination passport to hopefully open up to fully vaccinated people in July.  Mexico is focusing their vaccination order on cities along the border so they can expedite the land border opening as well.

Update 10 – 6/10/21:

There are rumors that Canada is eyeing a loosening of the border restrictions on June 22nd.  This comes as Canada has vaccination rates of around 70% of adults with one shot and around 10% fully vaccinated. They had hoped to get above 70% and 20% before opening up areas of the country.

The government is hoping to work in lock step with the US government and fears that the US may go it alone and open the border.  That would lead to a lot of Canadians crossing the border and then having to deal with quarantine rules etc. upon return. This situation is hoped to be avoided.

What is unclear is if this will be a one size fits all policy or dependent on vaccination levels.  From the sounds of this Politico article it seems like fully vaccinated may be able to cross the border.  People only partially vaccinated could have lessor restrictions etc.  Hopefully we should hear more in the next few weeks.

Update 9:

The US Government has announced an extension of the land border closure between the US, Mexico and Canada until at least May 21, 2021. They will be open to essential travel only. Parts of Canada are still in serious levels of lockdown to try to stem the spread of the virus during their current 3rd wave of outbreak.

Travel Pulse reports: “Travelers bound for Canada by air will continue to be COVID-19 PCR-tested upon arrival and are required to stay their first three nights at a designated quarantine hotel, which they pay for themselves. If their airport test results come back negative, travelers are permitted to finish out their 14-day quarantine at home, subject to increased surveillance.”

Update 8:

The US Government has announced an extension of the land border closure between the US, Canada and Mexico until at least April 21, 2021. The government still believes non essential travel poses too much of a risk to open the borders. You can still fly to Mexico without the need to quarantine upon arrival. You will need a negative test within 3 days of flying back to the US.

Update 7:

The US Government has announced an extension of the land border closure between the US, Canada and Mexico until at least March 21, 2021. This is the first extension under President Biden.

Update 6:

The land border closure for Canada and Mexico has once again been extended until February 21, 2021. You used to be able to come back from either country without much of any limitations by air travel but that will change January 26th.  A negative test from the last 72 hours will need to be shown to board the flight.

Update 5:

The land border closure has been extended for Canada and Mexico until January 21, 2021. Canadians have still been flying into the US to escape the winter months, and have even been chartering helicopters to work within the rules that exist. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation unapologetically: “Until the virus is significantly more under control everywhere around the world, we’re not going to be releasing the restrictions at the border.” (Travel Pulse)

Update 4:

The Canadian government made the decision to extend restrictions for all travelers entering the country, except the United States, until January 21, 2021. The ban for the United States has not been extended past December 21st but could be extended soon.  They have also considered putting in a framework to allow sports teams into the country to hold single sporting events.

Update 3:

The border closure between the US and Canada (plus Mexico) has been extended until at least December 21st. It looks likely that it will be extended much further out than that with rising cases.

Update 2:

The border for Canada remains closed until at least October 21, 2020, for most people at least.  Canada has lessoned the restrictions some which is a good sign that there may be hope of the border opening fully before the end of the year.  The following people are now permitted to cross the border into Canada:

• Extended family members of permanent residents
  • Including those in an exclusive dating relationship of at least one year.
    • Their dependent children, as well as adult children, grandchildren, siblings and grandparents are allowed as well.
• International students are allowed back as long as their university has been identified by their provincial or territorial government as having a COVID-19 readiness plan in place.
• Foreign nationals who need to enter the Canada for compassionate reasons in specific circumstances are allowed to cross the border. Someone who has a life-threatening illness, critical injury or death (attending a funeral or to say goodbye), with potential limited release from quarantine.

Update 1:

The ban has been pushed out until September 21, 2020.

Original Post

The border between Canada and the United States is set to remain closed to non essential travel even longer. The current restrictions that are supposed to expire later this month, will be extended to late July as both countries are still trying to keep the spread of the coronavirus under control.

The news comes from three sources familiar with the matter, as Reuters reports. Canadian and U.S. sources said although the governments had not yet taken a final decision, a further extension was highly likely.

The non-essential travel restrictions were implemented back in March when the coronavirus pandemic was engulfing both countries. It was then extended for an additional 30 days in April and May. It is currently set to expire on July 21.

Daily coronavirus cases in Canada are on a decline since early May. Until now the country has a total of 97,060 confirmed cases and 7,960 deaths. The United States is also on a downward trend. So far there are 2.03M cases in the U.S. and 114K deaths.

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