Canada-U.S. border reopening good news for Alberta tourism operators
Alberta's tourism industry will get a much-needed lift when Canada begins allowing fully vaccinated Americans to enter the country on Aug. 9, officials said Monday.
Border restrictions imposed on other foreign nationals will also be relaxed in early September.
The announcement is good news for Alberta’s travel and tourism industry that has struggled through more than a year of COVID-19 closures, and has only recently seen a major uptick in domestic travel.
“The international visitor, believe it or not, spends more than our domestic visitors do. They don't tend to pack a lunch when they come. They're the high ticket visitors, and so, we've really missed them," said Tourism Calgary CEO Cindy Ady.
"It's also really limited things like meetings … and conventions and those types of things. There's been such a limitation on those. And so having surety of when the border will open now, and (having) a plan helps us."
Ady’s comments are echoed by the head of the Calgary Hotel Association.
"Given our reliance on corporate travel, travel between Midwestern states, Texas, Colorado, it's critical for our regional market. Of course, it's important to Banff, Lake Louise, Canmore and the Rockies, but when you look at travel to Alberta, so much of it is trans-border travel, and corporate travel related to oil and gas.” said Sol Zia, Calgary Hotel Association executive director.
"We work very closely with CBRE (Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis) on the commercial real estate side. Unfortunately, they're forecasting a (return to a) typical year to be 2024. So 2024 will start to feel like 2019. It is going to be quite a climb back.”
Fully vaccinated travellers are exempt from quarantine. For the most part, fully vaccinated travellers will also be able to forgo the mandatory post-arrival COVID-19 test.
Border officials will still conduct random testing of travellers entering the country.
The Canada-U.S. border was shut down to non-essential travel by mutual agreement on March 21, 2020.
Unvaccinated American children under the age of 12, and unvaccinated dependent children will be able to accompany a fully vaccinated parent, step-parent, or legal guardian.
They will be able to bypass the 14-day quarantine, but must follow public health guidelines in the region they’re visiting.
Thus far, the U.S. has not announced similar plans to lift restrictions for Canadians seeking entry into that country for discretionary purposes.
Foreign nationals from countries other than the U.S. will have to wait until Sept. 7 to travel to Canada for discretionary purposes. This date is tentative.
It will take effect, “provided that the domestic epidemiologic situation remains favourable.”
All travellers will be required to upload proof of vaccination to the ArriveCAN app or website before boarding a flight to Canada and carry a vaccine certificate with them to present to border officials.
Additionally, five international airports in Canada have been added to the list of those accepting international flights.
The list now includes airports in:
- Calgary;
- Montreal;
- Toronto;
- Vancouver;
- Quebec City;
- Ottawa;
- Winnipeg;
- Edmonton, and;
- Halifax.
With files from CTV Ottawa
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.