Canada announces U.S. border closure extended another month until April 21
The closure of the U.S.-Canada border to non-essential traffic has officially been extended another month, according to a tweet Thursday, March 18, by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The closure is now scheduled to extend at least until April 21, mean the border between the two countries will be closed for at least 13 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ll continue to do whatever is necessary to keep you and your loved ones safe,” Trudeau’s tweet read.
Homeland Security echoed that sentiment from the U.S. side with its own tweet Thursday, adding that the U.S. border closure with Mexico also would be extended.
“To prevent the further spread of COVID-19, and in coordination with our partners in Canada and Mexico, the United States is extending the restrictions on non-essential travel at our land borders through April 21, while ensuring continued flows of essential trade and travel,” the Homeland Security tweet read.
“Informed by science and public health guidance, we will work with our counterparts to identify an approach to easing restrictions when conditions permit and with the protection of our citizens from COVID-19 at the forefront of our minds.”
The border closure between the U.S. and Canada was previously scheduled to expire Sunday, March 21 — one year, to the day, since the two countries first closed the border in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 during the opening stages of the pandemic. The closure has been extended on month-by-month basis 12 times now.
Thursday’s news is not a surprise, as Trudeau hinted Monday, March 15, during a news conference in Montreal that Canada was not ready to reopen the border to more people.
“We’re all eager to be able to travel again,” Trudeau said, according to a story published by Global News. “But I think we’re all going to wait patiently until such time as the health situation allows us to loosen border restrictions internationally. That’ll be eventually, but not for today.”
A story last week by the CBC said that neither government has said what benchmarks — data driven or otherwise — must be cleared on either side of the border before it is reopened.
“I can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” one Canadian official, who asked to remain anonymous, told the CBC. “In the near term, however, people should expect the border measures (to continue).”
One likely part of the reasoning for reluctance to reopen the border is that Canadian vaccination efforts are lagging behind those in the U.S.
According to a March 11 story by the Washington Post, the U.S. has administered nearly four times as many vaccine doses per person as Canada, and President Biden has announced plans to have enough supply to cover every U.S. adult by the end of May, though it may take longer to administer the shots.
Canada, meanwhile, expects to have all adults vaccinated by the end of September, according to the story.
A number of U.S. legislators have called on the Biden administration to work to begin reopening the borders. The latest plea, according to a CTV story last week, was from Rep. Brian Higgins of New York, who asked Biden in a letter to work with Trudeau toward a partial opening of the border by Memorial Day and a full opening by July 4.
Rep. Suzan DelBene sent a letter to the White House last month asking the administration work with Canadian officials, saying “as we approach one year of restricted travel, individuals, families, businesses, and communities on both sides of the border have been significantly impacted by these restrictions.” Other Washington state legislators and Gov. Jay Inslee have sent similar requests to U.S. and Canadian officials in recent months.
COVID numbers update
As of Thursday morning, the United States continues to have the highest number of COVID cases in the world with more than 29.6 million confirmed cases and 538,000 related deaths, according to the John Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard. Canada, meanwhile, was 22nd overall with more than 925,000 cases and 22,000 related deaths.
The U.S. is the third-most populated country in the world with more than 331 million residents, according to worlometers.info, while Canada is No. 39 with more than 37 million residents.
According to the British Columbia COVID-19 dashboard as of Wednesday, March 17, the province has seen 89,427 total cases during the pandemic and 1,411 confirmed deaths — an increase of 14,100 cases and 90 deaths since the last border extension was announced Feb. 19. With a population of approximately 5.1 million, British Columbia has seen an infection rate of 276.5 cases and 1.8 deaths per 100,000 residents since Feb. 19.
The Washington State Department of Health, meanwhile, reported 331,109 confirmed cases and 5,156 related deaths on Wednesday — an increase of 16,454 cases and 353 deaths since Feb. 19. With a population of approximately 7.5 million, the state has averaged 219.4 cases and 4.7 deaths per 100,000 residents since Feb. 19.
Washington state reports administering 2,517506 vaccine doses, or approximately 0.34 doses per resident, while British Columbia reports administering 444,140 doses, or approximately 0.09 per resident.
Closure economic impact
Whatcom County is certainly feeling the economic impact of the border closure, which is now less than a week away from marking a full year.
The Western Washington University Border Policy Research Institute found before the pandemic that Canadians comprise approximately 75% of cross-border travelers to and from Whatcom County, depending on the exchange rate when the border is open, according to information Director Laurie Trautman emailed to The Bellingham Herald for an earlier story.
In 2018, that would have represented approximately 10.5 million southbound Canadian travelers through the Blaine, Lynden, Sumas and Point Roberts points of entry.
Those Canadians represent a large portion of consumers in Whatcom County — anywhere from 2% to 46% of the weekend customer base Whatcom County retailers see, Trautman reported, adding that the average is about 17%.
Essential travel between the two countries is still allowed, though, and that includes transportation of freight.
Bureau of Transportation statistics show that freight shipments across the border are continuing to recover from early pandemic lows.
The statistics show freight crossing the border between the U.S. and Canada via truck was down 9.9% from 2019 to $309 billion. Rail freight between the two countries was down 18.3% to $79 billion.
Including the southern border with Mexico, all transborder freight was worth an estimated $1.06 trillion, which was down 13.3% from 2019. Transborder freight declined in 2020 from 2019 in every month since the start of COVID-19 except for December, when there was a 0.4% increase over 2019, according to the statistics.
This story was originally published March 18, 2021 at 10:08 AM with the headline "Canada announces U.S. border closure extended another month until April 21."
