On August 9th 2021, Canada opened its border to all fully vaccinated Americans allowing tourists from the United States to visit the country once again. The US border remains closed to Canadians, however, and American authorities recently extended the border closure until September 21st citing COVID-19 transmission rates south of the border as well as the highly contagious Delta variant. This leads to the question, when will the US border open to Canadians?
Many experienced immigration professionals and border experts believe the United States land border could remain closed until late 2021 or even early 2022. This is because the US Government likely plans to open their land border to both Canada and Mexico at the exact same time, and vaccination rates in Mexico are much lower. America is also experiencing a “4th wave” of COVID with cases surging in states such as Florida, although hospitalizations and deaths remain low. Depending on how the pandemic plays out, some people believe the border could even remain closed until next summer although the chance of that happening is likely low.
When the Canadian border was closed to Americans, US citizen were restricted from both driving or flying into Canada. Only the US land border is currently closed, however, so if a Canadian really wants to enter the United States they can always fly there. While many Canadians are disappointed the USA has not reciprocated the opening of their border, COVID case numbers are drastically lower above the border so most Canadians have no interest in leaving the country.
While waiting for the American border to open, if you have friends or family you wish to go visit you can always have them come up to Canada instead. As long as a US citizen or Green Card holder has proof of full vaccination, he or she will not need to quarantine upon crossing the Canadian border. Americans that have a DUI conviction may be at risk of a border denial, however, so if your friend or family member has a criminal history you might be stuck waiting for the US border to open before seeing them.
