'It's great news': Tourism, business groups in US applaud changes to COVID test requirements
Canadians returning to the country from a short trip abroad soon won't have to provide a negative molecular test to get across the border, CTV News has confirmed.
Though the timing for the change has not been finalized, it will mean fully-vaccinated Canadian travellers will no longer need to provide a molecular test -- the most common from is a PCR test -- when returning if their trip was less than 72 hours long.
It will make it easier and less costly for Canadians who want to take a short shopping or ski trip down south, tourism groups say.
"I think we're very excited about it. Certainly it's revenue coming in, but we're also just excited to see everyone," said Gayle Fisher with the Central Montana Tourism Region.
"We have good friends who cross the border and the cost has been pretty prohibitive with the current regulations," she said.
The requirement to present a negative test will still be in effect for trips that are longer than 72 hours. The tests can cost anywhere between $150 and $300 each.
"We certainly have heard from people that it has prevented them from travelling to Whitefish for a short trip," said Brian Schott with Explore Whitefish.
"I think [the changes] are great news," he said.
'POSITIVE STEP'
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has been pressuring the Canadian Government to make changes to the testing requirements for people crossing the border.
"It's a positive step, it's a step in the right direction. But it's just one step," said Perrin Beatty, the CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
The requirement to have an expensive COVID test to come into Canada for a short trip is an "absurdity," Beatty said. He'd now like to see fully-vaccinated Americans be able to come for short trips without needing a PCR test as well, to help businesses on the Canadian side of the border that are experiencing fewer tourists.
If you have four people, it's costing about $800 Canadian (for tests). You have people say 'this is crazy, there's no way we're going to do this'," Beatty said.
"That's one of the reasons why when our government opened up the border in August, we didn't see the increase in tourism from the United States we would have liked to have seen."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.