New Brunswickers prepare for slow return of travel across U.S. land border
CBC
While Aurel Schofield didn't mind his last winter in New Brunswick, he's looking forward to trading his Dieppe home for the warm sun of his condo in Naples, Fla.
The reopening of the U.S. land border on Monday is welcome news to snowbirds and those looking to visit friends and family. Travellers will need to be fully vaccinated and meet testing requirements when they return home.
When Schofield was last in Florida, he was forced to rush back home as the pandemic began in March 2020. Now, he's looking forward to returning to the ocean among thousands of Canadian snowbirds flocking south.
"We rent boats, and we go out on the open water, and we go up in the Everglades," he said.
The reopening comes more than 20 months after the U.S. and Canada jointly closed their land borders to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Many businesses in northern Maine are reliant on cross-border customers from New Brunswick, who buy cheaper gas, milk and groceries in the U.S. Thousands of parcels have been piling up in mailrooms and international package-handling facilities.
While those communities have been desperate for international travel to resume, requirements for returning to Canada will make those short shopping trips difficult.
Travellers returning to New Brunswick from Maine or other U.S. destinations will need a negative COVID-19 molecular test taken within 72 hours of arrival. They will also need to upload proof of vaccination and additional travel information to the ArriveCan app up to 72 hours before crossing the border.
Rapid antigen tests, including the kits distributed by the New Brunswick government, are not accepted.
Some travellers, even if they're fully vaccinated, may be randomly selected for a second post-arrival test.
In Houlton, Maine, a community just 20 kilometres from Woodstock, locals expect those complicated restrictions will deter Canadian shoppers from venturing to U.S. businesses.
Jane Torres, executive director of the Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce, said businesses have been finding ways to survive without Canadian customers — but hope they start to return.
"We're hoping when the border opens on Monday that there's more crossover, that people are more comfortable coming back and forth."
Canada reopened its border to fully-vaccinated Americans on Aug. 9. That delay in easing restrictions for both countries sparked frustration in many cross-border communities.
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