U.S. Land Border Open to Canadians

Effective today, November 8, 2021, Canadians can travel more freely across the U.S. land border. Granted there are some conditions to keep in mind.

Conditions to Cross the U.S. Border

Over the past 19 months, (since March 2020), the United States has only allowed non-essential travel into their country from the Canadian land border crossings.

As of today, Canadians 18 years and older, who are fully vaccinated, can now cross more easily. People under 18 years old are currently exempted from this requirement.

Furthermore, at the moment, travellers entering by land will not have to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test, but they will need to attest to their vaccination status and may be requested to show proof.

At the moment, it does not seem like the U.S. will be very strict at the border to speed up wait times.

Canadian Travel Alert

On the flip side, it does not seem like the Canadian government is very worried about Canadians crossing the border to the U.S., as their travel advisory has been relaxed (see screenshot below from the Canadian government):

Thoughts

I am a little torn by this move from the United States. First of all, Canada opened its borders to Americans for a couple of months now. Already it took the United States 2 extra months, which seemed like a precautionary move.

So now that they have opened the border, they seem very lax about it by not checking the vaccination status of every single person who crosses the border.

Whether they know something that we do not, I am really hoping that when they open things up, it is not set up for more closures again later on. Sometimes it might be better to more cautious when opening things up so that there is no need to claw back.

Either way, glad to see that people can move around more freely again!

Please let us know your thoughts in the comment section below, do you plan to go the U.S.?