Border restrictions extension means a tough month for some Alberta businesses
Some Alberta businesses say they're feeling left behind following an announcement that travel restrictions at the Canada-U.S. border will remain in place for at least another month.
The federal government said Friday the restrictions on non-essential international travel will be kept in place until July 21.
In Calgary, one travel agent said it was a hard thing to hear.
"People are just wanting to know when can we travel or when can we plan that vacation," Travel Time owner Terri Jo Lennox said. "They just want some guidance on that."
Lennox told CTV News she understands the reasoning behind the extension, but was hoping for more information from the government.
"The most unsettling piece of it for both us in the industry and consumers in general is all of the uncertainty, and the lack of information or a plan," she said.
The measures at land crossings have been in place since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
The pressure to relax the restrictions has been building from businesses on both sides of the border in recent months.
Alberta's southern-most village has been struggling with the change.
"It continues to hurt our small businesses that depend on traffic going through," Coutts deputy mayor Scott MacCumber said.
It'll also impact summer travellers and the province's tourism industry.
The premier said he'd like to see some exceptions made to help some industries.
"I think most premiers believe that we can, at some point in July, begin receiving folks who have been double dosed," Jason Kenney said Friday.
The federal government is expected to provide details on Monday about plans to let fully vaccinated Canadians and permanent residents enter the country.
Specific details are currently unknown.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has previously said that it would take 75 per cent of Canadians getting vaccinated before restrictions at the border could be lifted.
Right now, more than 65 per cent of Canada’s total population has had their first dose and almost 17 per cent are fully vaccinated.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Attack on prison van in France kills 2 officers, inmate escapes
Armed assailants killed two French prison officers and seriously wounded three others in an attack on a convoy in Normandy on Tuesday and an inmate escaped, officials said.
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence for 10 years under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
$1.6B parts plant for Honda electric vehicle batteries coming to Niagara Region
A Japanese company has announced it will build an approximately $1.6-billion plant in Ontario's Niagara Region that will make a key electric vehicle battery component as part of Honda's supply chain in the province.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Manitoba premier to visit areas impacted by wildfire
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will get a close-up look at the devastation from a large wildfire burning in northern Manitoba Tuesday.
1 killed, 3 injured including toddler, after Hwy. 417 crash in Ottawa
Ontario Provincial Police are responding to a fatal collision involving two vehicles on Highway 417 in Ottawa's west end on Tuesday morning.