U.S. border reopens to Canadians for non-essential travel after 20 month closure

CALGARY -

That U.S. road trip or cross-border shopping spree is now possible.

For the first time since the pandemic began, fully-vaccinated Canadians can travel south of the border for non-essential reasons at land and ferry border crossings.

As of early Monday morning, there appears to be an eagerness from travellers with wait times to cross at Sweetgrass/Coutts —between Alberta and Montana — exceeding 40 minutes.

Any combination of mixed vaccine doses are accepted as per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Canadian visitors with two or more doses do not need to provide negative test results to get into the States, but they do need to take a pre-arrival molecular test to get back into Canada.

Antigen tests, also known as rapid tests, are not accepted by Canadian border officials.

Returning Canadians should upload their information to the ArriveCan app or website.

For trips lasting fewer than 72 hours, there is the option of having a PCR test in Canada before crossing the border at the travellers' own cost.

As for those who are not fully immunized, the rules for re-entering Canada remain in place.

They "must continue to follow pre-arrival, arrival and Day-8 molecular COVID-19 testing requirements, and quarantine for 14 days," reads a release from the Canada Border Services Agency.

Canada reopened its border to fully-vaccinated foreign visitors in early September.